IG2 Book TWO :Man and Machine
by Aline Riva
Summary: ***STORY TWO of the 5 book series*** Sequel to "No Less Human",set 10 years after the movie Inspector Gadget 2*. The peace of crime free Riverton is shattered when a new villain emerges-The Riverton Bomber. And when Gadget is caught up in a huge explosion, lives will be changed forever..
1. Chapter 1

**Man and Machine (sequel to No Less Human)  
**

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**Plot Summary:**

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*****Author's note*** This story is the SEQUEL to the story "No Less Human", which is set ten years after the end of the movie "Inspector Gadget 2". If you have not read No Less Human, you may prefer to read that_ first _because _this_ story carries on from where the first one ended.*****

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**Man and Machine:**

**With Riverton completely crime free, Inspector Gadget has never been happier – he is married to G2 and he is also bringing up Grace, the daughter of his lover, political prisoner Alicia MacKenzie, with whom he still enjoys secret meetings with - thanks to his little arrangement with man-eating Mayor Wilson.**

**Now completely at ease with his complicated love life and his upgraded and reconstructed body, Gadget feels nothing in his life can go wrong, especially as Claw is now dead –but then Mayor Wilson's political rival steps up his efforts to undermine her credibility by resorting to blackmailing those around her - and when Gadget is threatened with the truth being revealed that Grace is not really his daughter, he responds by freely admitting that Grace is not his child, then saying that he feels it makes no difference at all – _because he was also adopted when he was a baby..._**

**Penny, who has always believed Gadget to be her Uncle, is stunned by this revelation. **

**And so is G2, who starts to question exactly _why_ Gadget has lied to her for five years, leading everyone around him to believe he is Grace's father...**

**Then the peace and safety of crime free Riverton is shattered by an explosion at a huge party thrown by Mayor Wilson – the Riverton Bomber has struck for the first time - and while Gadget's heroic actions just before the explosion saves many lives, it also costs him heavily when he is caught up in the blast and suffers terrible injuries. **

**While Gadget fights for life, Penny, who is now married with a family of her own, starts to think about the fact that Gadget is not really her Uncle – and as she realizes there is a real risk that she could lose him forever, she finally confronts a truth she has long been running from – _her true feelings for Gadget run far deeper than she has ever admitted..._**

**As Gadget slowly begins to recover, he finds he has new problems to deal with – until his cyborg skin recovers, he will have to wear a mask that partly covers one side of his face. And just when he is starting to adjust to life after the bombing, G2 tells him their marriage is over – because after the explosion, Alicia MacKenzie called from Riverton Prison, hysterically sobbing and demanding to speak to Gadget, saying she had a right to know if he was still alive – _because she had been his mistress for the last five years..._**

**Suddenly Gadget finds himself alone and struggling to cope with his healing injuries from the explosion – until Penny steps in and promises to take care of him. And while Gadget recovers she feels torn between staying silent or telling him the truth, that she is deeply in love with him and has been for many years...**

**And while Gadget and Penny both struggle with their own very different problems, Gadget has a race against time to solve the mystery of who planted the explosives before the Riverton Bomber strikes again...**

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**Rated T: Contains some scenes of violence and also adult situations.**

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**Disclaimer: This is a work of fan fiction. I own nothing.**

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**Another Note:**

**A quick word about the pairing in this story:  **

**Under the circumstances set out in this story (Gadget is NOT related to Penny, and Penny is now a grown woman, married with a family of her own), there is _no_ reason why this pairing shouldn't or wouldn't happen. I'm aware that some readers might not like the idea of the romantic pairing in this story but... if you don't like, don't read. **

**But I'm hoping that most readers who enjoy my fiction and enjoyed my previous story in this fandom, will enjoy this story too.**

** Reviews are welcome :-)**

**And:**

**Also I have requested that a sub category be created for the IG movies in the Movies section, so as soon as this happens, both this story and No Less Human will be moving over from Cartoons to Movies, because both stories are based within the movie fandom and it needs to be in its own category. So if this story and my other one vanishes from Cartoons, it will be found in Movies – just thought I'd mention that.**

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Chapter 1

The sun was sinking over a clear evening sky and the light was fading fast as the fields on the road to Riverton began to fall dark with the coming of dusk.

"Don't you want me to Go-go any faster?" Gadget Mobile asked.

Inspector Gadget gripped the wheel a little tighter and kept his eyes fixed on the road ahead as he replied.

"No, Gadget Mobile. I want to Go-go _slow_ because I have no interest in having dinner with the man who wants to become the next mayor of Riverton!"

"But he asked to have dinner with you." The car pointed out, "He said he wanted to get to know Riverton's famous crime fighter! He's a fan of yours!"

Gadget gave a sigh.

"I only agreed to this because G2 said we should get to know him, in case he _does_ become mayor."

"And what if he gets elected?" Gadget Mobile asked him, "What happens to your arrangement about seeing Alicia in jail?"

Gadget thought about Mayor Wilson and how she had been willing to agree to let him see Alicia secretly, in return for a few intimate favors...it was hardly a pleasure, but he had never stopped loving Alicia and even though he felt guilty for cheating on G2, he guessed being Riverton's greatest crime fighter didn't make him immune to weakness or infidelity...

"If she stops being mayor my arrangement with her is _definitely_ cancelled!" He said, "And I don't know if I could still see Alicia. But I _do_ know it's nothing for a car to worry about!"

"_Hey I'm not just a car, Gadget!"_

The Gadget Mobile had sounded hurt by his remark.

"I know that." Gadget replied, "Okay, let's go faster, I won't be late for this stupid dinner..."

And Gadget Mobile turned out the rocket power and the car blasted up the empty road, becoming a blur as Gadget headed for home at speed.

* * *

It was getting later as Penny checked the time.

"Where is he, where IS Uncle Gadget?" She wondered as she stood in the house where she had spent most of her teenage years back when she'd been growing up with her Uncle.

The dining room was all set out for dinner and G2 also glanced at the time and then she gave a sigh.

"If he doesn't hurry up our guests will be here!"

Then G2 turned to the mirror and ran her hand over her dark hair and straightened up the straps on her pale, silken dress.

Penny smiled; G2 still moved robotically, still thought robotically sometimes too – but she liked her upgraded organic body and enjoyed the fact that she was so human in every way – but she had given birth to her first child only four months ago and was very preoccupied with getting her shape back.

"Do I look –"

Penny met her gaze with understanding eyes.

"_Fat?_ No! You look fine, G2."

And G2 smiled back at her gratefully.

"Thank you for reassuring me. I had no idea childbirth, such a natural process, could change the shape of my hips so very much!"

Penny laughed.

"That happened to me too."

G2 frowned as she looked at Penny, long since grown into a woman in her twenties who was married with a five year old son now.

"I don't see it." She told her, studying Penny's slender figure in her tight sparkling black dress.

"That's because I gave birth to Maxie five years ago. Everything goes back the way it was, it just takes time, it doesn't happen in five minutes."

"Hmm..." G2 replied thoughtfully, checking her reflection again.

Penny looked around the room and thought about how much had changed in the last few years- back when she had been a teenager, she had been the only kid in this house.

Now her Uncle Gadget had three kids of his own - all girls- Grace, by Alicia MacKenzie who was still in Riverton Prison serving her sentance, Emily, the result of his fling with married cybernetics expert Lula Smith, who often came to stay at the weekends, and now he had baby Alice, his only child with G2...

Alice was asleep upstairs and Grace had gone to bed early that night. Penny felt relieved that Emily had not been staying over because whenever Grace and Emily got together, they _always_ squabbled...

"Anyway," Penny said as G2 fussed over the table decorations for the second time, "Don't worry about being less than perfect – I expect you'll probably want another baby before Alice is much older."

G2 adjusted a wine glass and stepped back from the table

"Oh no!" She said, sounding very sure, "Having Alice was a joyful experience but also an immensely painful one. I won't be going through _that _again!"

Penny hid her surprise at that remark; G2 seemed very sure about not wanting any more children, but only recently Gadget had told her that he couldn't wait to have a brother or sister for Alice when she was a little bit older...

"Oh right, I didn't know that." She replied.

Then the front door opened and they both stepped out into the hallway.

"Gadget!" G2 said sharply, "Our guests will be here soon! Where have you been?"

"Police business." He said, covering up the fact that he had _wanted_ to be late.

Then he saw Penny and smiled.

"Hi Penny."

She smiled back at him.

"Hi Uncle Gadget." She said, then she went into the kitchen to check on the food.

Gadget took off his trench coat and hat and hung them up in the hall.

"Don't you think you should go and get changed?" G2 asked him.

"No, I'm fine as I am." Gadget replied, then he extended his wrist and checked his watch.

"I don't have enough time now – they'll be here soon."

G2 gave a sigh.

"Just go and sit at the table, please!"

As Gadget turned away, a sudden thought struck her...

"Gadget?"

He looked back at her.

"Yes, G2?"

She stepped closer and smiled.

"I need you to be totally honest." She said quietly, "Can you do that for me?"

And Gadget felt a flicker of guilt as he thought about his secret visits to Alicia Mackenzie that had been going on for more than five years now; he had never set out for life to _ever_ get this complicated, but it had just happened... and even though he hated deceiving his wife, he just couldn't seem to stop doing it...

"Of course I'll be honest." He promised her.

G2 turned around.

"_Does my backside look fat in this dress?"_

Gadget studied her curves and thought about it as she turned back to him.

_He hesitated._

G2 spoke again, impatient for an answer.

"It's not a difficult question, Gadget! _Just be honest, it would mean so much to me to have your honest opinion!_ Does my backside-"

"_Well... yes, yes it does..."_ He stated, giving her the honesty that she had demanded_, "Yes honey –it definitely does. It looks huge and wide."_

And he smiled, hoping that level of honesty had pleased her.

His smile soon faded as G2 glared at him.

"That's it, I'm going upstairs, I'm getting changed!" She snapped, turning away and heading for the stairs.

Gadget watched her go up feeling powerless to take back what he had said.

"I was just trying to make you _happy._.."

She paused at the top of the stairs, glared again, and went off to get changed.

* * *

Gadget went through to the dining room and sat down, giving a heavy sigh.

There was a soft patter of small paws as Brain ran in to greet him.

As the dog scrambled up the side of his chair, Gadget stroked his head.

"I just messed up again." He said sadly, "I can't even be honest with her and get it right!"

Then the doorbell rang.

Gadget got up and went out into the hall.

"I'll get it!" He called to Penny, who was busy in the kitchen.

Gadget opened the door and smiled at his guests.

"You must be Mr Braydon." He said, shaking hands with the tall, smartly dressed guy who he recognised from newspaper articles.

Taylor Braydon smiled and shook his hand.

"It's a real pleasure to meet you, Inspector!" He said enthusiastically, "I mean, you're Riverton's greatest crime fighter- _and _you're partly robot!"

His hazel eyes grew wider and he pushed his blond streaked fringe out of his eyes.

"That's so cool, I've never met a cyborg before!"

And Gadget politely smiled back at him, seeing a rather vacant look in his eyes and guessing the rumors about Taylor were true – he was a good speaker in public because his speeches were well rehearsed – but he was nothing more than a guy who had got by and got where he was in life because he came from a wealthy family. Rumor had it that Taylor was stupid_. Gadget guessed the__ rumors__ had to be true..._

"Can I see your microchips?" Taylor wondered.

Gadget stared at him... _this_ _guy was in his thirties but looking at him like an excited kid who wanted to play with a new toy..._

"I wasn't planning on taking my shirt off."Gadget told him, wondering how he was going to deal with a whole evening stuck with this guy.

Then a woman pushed past him, giving Taylor a shove as she stepped forward in shiny red high heeled shoes and a matching red dress that Mayor Wilson would have envied.

But this woman was much younger than the Mayor; she was also younger than Taylor with a deep, sun kissed glow to her tanned skin and her blonde hair was piled up high on her head and pinned in place with a sparkling diamante comb.

Her lip gloss shimmered and she looked at Gadget with wide dark eyes that were heavily shaded and as she blinked her long spidery mascara coated eyelashes fluttered.

"And I'm Delia Braydon, his wife." She said, shaking Gadget's hand.

As her handshake lingered Gadget caught the look in her eyes and instantly thought again of Mayor Wilson. He guessed if Taylor won the election, there would still be a man eater in a position of power in Riverton – it was very clear by the look in her eyes that Delia was the driving force behind her husband – literally.

She gave Taylor a quick shove in the back and pushed him over the threshold.

"Come on, darling, get your coat off!" She said, still with that big smile on her face and that overly keen sparkle in her eyes that was decidedly creepy...

And she slipped her own jacket off and as Gadget took it from her to hang it up, she turned around and he tried not to stare at her plunging cleavage, or at the size of the diamonds about her throat that matched the ones that glittered around both her wrists, set in very expensive bracelets.

Delia was still smiling at him.

"Shall we go and sit down, Inspector?" She said, "I've been looking forward to meeting you."

Gadget forced another smile and led the way through to the dining room.

* * *

Taylor lingered back and looked around, spotting the kitchen door open.

Penny heard a tap on the door and almost dropped the soup as she saw a stranger standing in the doorway.

"Hi."He said, giving her a friendly smile, "I'm Taylor. What's for dinner? And do you need any help because I love cooking!"

Penny laughed; _this_ was Taylor Braydon, Mayor Wilson's opponent in the up coming election?

"I'm okay thanks." She told him, "Why don't you go and sit down, were having dinner soon. And I don't need any help, but thanks for the offer –"

Penny stared at him as he went over to the soup and stuck his finger in it and then tasted it.

"Tomato!" He said, "My favourite! What's for main course?"

"Steak." Penny replied.

Taylor gave a sigh of relief.

"Oh good!" He told her, "I'm so glad its not lobster! Did you know they cook them alive?"

Penny nodded her head.

"I hate it when things die." He added, "So it's a good thing we've _only_ got steak tonight - _that's just_ _food from the supermarket_..."

"Right." Penny said, hiding her smile as she turned back to the soup... _He hated to eat dead things, but he was glad they were only having steak? Didn't he realize it was part of a cow?_ She guessed the rumors had to be true that he was truly dense, but she had to admit to herself that she couldn't find a reason to dislike him, even if he _was_ after the Mayor's job...

* * *

In the dining room, Gadget was sat across the table from Taylor's wife.

He kept glancing at the doors and hoping G2 would hurry up and just get changed and come back downstairs, because he really didn't want to be alone with Delia Braydon any longer than he had to be, she had a very fixed look about her eyes as she met his gaze and for a moment he felt uncomfortable, but just didn't know why.

_And a split second later, he found out why..._

She leaned across the table a fraction, still with that sparkle in her eyes as she kept her voice low.

"Obviously when my husband's in charge of Riverton he will want full co operation from the police department to bring in some changes." She remarked, "Such as a smaller budget and less man power – we don't need such a big police force- we have you, you're a famous crime fighter. Anything more would be a waste of money. There's going to be a lot of spending cuts."

Gadget's smile faded as he looked back at her.

"Why are you telling me that?" He wondered.

"Because it's important that people like you and Chief Quimby come to understand that you need to work with us and not against us." She replied, "Otherwise my husband, who is a very honest and open man might decide to shake a few skeletons loose from closets. _Like for example, people might find out that little Grace isn't your daughter, Inspector_."

Gadget stared at her.

His first reaction was anger, but he thought about the situation calmly because his wife was upstairs getting changed and Grace was asleep in her bedroom and Penny was in the kitchen – none of them knew the truth about Grace, that he had assumed responsibility for her simply because he had loved her mother, who couldn't look after her because she was in jail – she was in jail because he had arrested her and raising Grace was the only way he could make amends for that...

He took a deep breath and tried to stay calm.

"If there's one thing I won't do it's give in to blackmail!" He said firmly, as he hoped she hadn't noticed he had broken out into a sweat... the _only_ reason he had decided to come to this dinner was because he was looking forward to the food. At least being a cyborg hadn't ever stopped him being able to eat and enjoy food like everyone else could, being part machine, even with his upgraded body still made Gadget feel different, but human pleasures meant so much to him - but what she had just said had put him off the thought of dinner completely.

"Are you sure about that?" Delia wondered.

Gadgets eyes hardened as he looked back at her and secretly hoped that she knew nothing else about the secret side of his life, because he was about to put a stop to her plan and there was only one way to do it – _and there would be fallout from this no matter what the outcome..._

"_Very sure."_ Gadget said quietly, _"Now I'm going to be nice and polite to you because I'm thinking about not wrecking this evening for my wife, who has gone to a lot of trouble to make you and your husband feel welcome. But after tonight, if you approach anyone else with blackmail threats I'll have you thrown in jail, do you understand me?"_

No alarm registered in Delia's eyes.

"_You'll have to prove it first, darling."_ She said sweetly.

Then G2 came into the room wearing a dark blue cocktail dress and she greeted Delia with a smile, having no clue about the conversation that had just taken place...

* * *

Dinner seemed to start off well, as G2 politely talked to Taylor about his plans if he became mayor – at least, he she _tried_ to speak to him, but his wife was very much in the habit of jumping in first to answer questions for him.

And while they talked, Penny glanced over at her Uncle with concern in her eyes as he toyed about with the spoon in his soup and then sat back and pushed the bowl away.

"Are you okay, Uncle Gadget?" She asked him.

G2 hadn't missed that remark.

She looked at her husband and blinked, surprised to see him looking so serious.

"Gadget?" She asked him,"Is there something wrong?"

He reached for his glass of mineral water and took a sip. His hand shook as he put the glass down again.

"_Gadget?"_ G2 said again.

He took a deep breath and glanced around the table, briefly catching Delia's gaze and then looking back at G2 and Penny.

"I was just thinking about Grace." He said, "And about me, too. I was just thinking about how it doesn't matter that she's adopted. _About how it doesn't matter that I'm not_..."

He knew he was sweating now and as he looked at G2 he felt like the words were about to get stuck in his throat, but he forced them out any way:

"_...I'm not actually Grace's father."_

"What?" Penny said as her eyes grew wider.

G2 was also staring at him.

"I don't understand." She stated, sounding very robotic for a moment, "You told me Grace was your child. What's going on, this doesn't make sense?"

Gadget looked across the table at his wife.

"I thought I mentioned that years ago."

"_No, you didn't!" _G2 replied, feeling more shock than anger as she wondered why he had never told her before - _and_ why he was bringing up this subject now, at dinner, in front of guests...

Gadget thought only of the little girl fast asleep upstairs, who had a happy life – a life that would _never _be affected by blackmail threats...

"I thought I _did _tell you." Gadget repeated, "But that was a long time ago and I was going through a lot myself at the time, when I had the body upgrade...maybe I didn't make it clear. I took her on because I wanted to give her a home; I wanted us to be her parents. I felt sorry for the poor child. And besides, it doesn't matter that she's not ours, does it, G2? We love her like our own daughter."

G2 slowly nodded, still too shocked to process this information fully.

"_Of course we do..." _She said quietly.

"That's why I didn't hesitate to give her a home. "Gadget said, deciding he would throw another secret out into the open before Delia got the chance, "I knew it wouldn't make a difference that she was adopted. _I was adopted when I was a baby, it didn't make a difference to how my family felt about me –they loved me like their own child_..."

Penny set her wine glass down heavily on the table as she caught her breath and the room span for a second.

She blinked and saw spilt red wine soaking through the tablecloth and she took in a difficult shaken breath:

_Her Uncle Gadget wasn't really her Uncle?_

"_We're not related?"_ She said in a shocked voice.

Gadget felt genuinely surprised that she was so stunned by this remark.

"Does it really matter?" He asked her, feeling an ache in his heart as he wondered if she had been hurt by the fact that he had never mentioned it to her before.

Penny just looked at her for a moment and then she shook her head.

"_No...no...of course not. Why should it..."_ Her voice was barely above a whisper.

And then she looked down at the table as the room span again for a moment, then she grabbed her glass and drank some more wine because right now she felt as if the sky had come crashing down on her and she just couldn't say another word.

She switched her thoughts to home and her husband, the father of her son Maxie.

Life flashed before her eyes like the sparks that pricked her vision for a second as she tried to steady herself, feeling more than she cared to show:

_Max Evans, her government agent husband loved her, he loved her so much and all they ever did was fight and he could never make sense of it. _

_She had pushed him so much to get cyborg implants because she wanted him to be a man like her Uncle, the man who had been her guardian and protector when she was a girl.. _

_Gadget had been more than just her Uncle, he had been her hero, her friend, everything she called family - and all she had ever wanted when she'd grown up was to find herself a man just like her Uncle Gadget._

_But Max had refused to give in to her demands and no one knew what a strain it had put on their marriage - all because she wanted a man like Uncle Gadget..._

_But he wasn't her Uncle._

_They were not related._

Penny looked across the table at him.

Their eyes met and confusion clouded his expression.

"Penny?" He wondered, "Why are you upset, it's no big deal! I'm _still_ your Uncle Gadget!"

She blinked away tears she couldn't explain, least of all to herself, and she forced a smile.

"_I know that." _She said quickly, then drank some more wine and wished her heart would stop racing so hard because right now she could barely breathe.

Gadget fixed his gaze on Delia Braydon.

"I thought I'd just get those skeletons out of the closet because I _don't_ give in to blackmail!" He said sharply, "And I have _no_ other secrets."

G2 stared at Delia.

"_Blackmail?"_

Then Gadget laughed, deciding to call Delia's bluff once and for all.

"What's next? Will you resort to fabricating rumors? What could you _possibly_ invent? _Maybe I'm secretly visiting Alicia Mackenzie in jail, perhaps she's my mistress_. Maybe I'm able to this because... let me see... _who _am I giving sexual favors to in return? _Mayor Wilson?_"

Her jaw dropped and she stared at Gadget, who flashed her a brief but smug look; _yes_ _– that had been coming next, but now she was powerless..._

G2 started to laugh. She laughed so hard she wiped a tear from her eye.

"_Mayor Wilson!"_ She exclaimed, and carried on laughing.

Penny had smiled at that remark and shook her head, seeing the funny side to this even though his revelation that he was not her Uncle had shocked her.

"Oh God, who would want to do _that _with _Mayor Wilson!_" Penny exclaimed.

And Gadget kept a smile on his face as he felt silently relieved that the rest of the truth had been covered up because no one would have believed it if Delia had come out and said it anyway...

Then Taylor looked up at Gadget.

"No," He said, sounding quite clueless to his wife's intentions, "You're not seeing Mayor Wilson –Chief Quimby was, years ago – he's actually the father of her youngest son, I know because my wife said so. _I thought everyone knew that-_"

Then he gave a yelp of pain as his wife kicked him beneath the table and her face turned scarlet.

"_Tie..." _She hissed.

"What?" Taylor wondered, "My laces? I _did _tie them, in bows. Not _together_ this time, in bows..."

"_Your tie is in your soup!" _She said bitterly.

As Taylor pulled his tie out of the soup, G2 stood up sharply.

_"Get out before I throw you out!"_ She snapped as she glared at Delia Braydon.

Penny sat in her seat and watched as Taylor and his wife quickly got up and headed for the door.

"Go go Gadget arm." Gadget said, extending his arm with lightening speed that unnerved Delia as it shot past her, through the open dining room doorway and up the hall, opening the front door for her.

G2 watched as Delia hurried from the house, grabbing her husband by his sleeve and pulling him towards their car.

Gadget's hand slammed the door firmly shut and wound back through the house, into the dining room and snapped back into place.

Then Gadget gave a sigh.

"Gadget mode off." He said aloud, relieved to see the message blink up in the corner of his eye that his Gadget mode was offline now; it was a stressful night and he didn't want to have problems with glitches at a time like this because he had enough explaining to do...

G2 came back into the room and looked intently at him. He caught a flicker of hurt in her eyes but he guessed it would have been a lot worse if she had realized the whole truth, and that wouldn't happen now.

"You told me Grace was _your _child." She said, still feeling confused. "_Why _did you never tell me the truth? You've had _five years_ to tell me!"

Gadget shifted uncomfortably in his seat.

He hated lying to his wife and now he knew he had to do it again, to keep his secrets safe.

"I thought I _did_ tell you." He repeated, "I was going through a tough time with the upgrade and the reconstruction and all the trouble with Alicia MacKenzie – _and with Claw!"_

G2 stared at him.

"_Claw?" _She exclaimed, "_What does Doctor Claw have to do with you not telling me about Grace? This sounds like an excuse, Gadget!"_

"It was a stressful time." He replied, "And when I realized she wasn't my child it made no difference to me at all. I was adopted as a baby. I saw no reason not to adopt Grace. I'm sorry if I didn't tell you as much as I thought I did, I can't remember what I told you..."  
And he fell silent and looked away, purely because he didn't want to see the hurt in her eyes as she looked back at him.

"I'm going to bed." G2 said quietly, "Maybe we can discuss this in the morning. I'm in no mood to discuss it at this moment. I feel ..."

She searched her robot mind for the right word.

"_Deceived."_ She stated, sounding as hurt as she felt, then she left the room.

* * *

Gadget got up and so did Penny.

As he headed for the door he turned and looked back at her.

"Please tell me what I said doesn't make a difference." He said to her,"I'm still your Uncle Gadget, I'd never want you to feel differently just because we're not related."

Penny just stood there and looked into his eyes.

She saw so much worry reflected there and it made her heart ache all over again.

"Of course it doesn't change anything." She promised him, then she hugged him and he held her tightly.

It was Penny who let go first.

"Nothing changes the fact that you're my Uncle Gadget. She told him_,"But I wish you'd told me a long time ago."_

Then Penny felt as if her heart was about to leap out of her mouth and she took in a sharp breath as she looked into his eyes:

He didn't have a clue what she was trying to say and she didn't want to think about it either because it was too late now, and the kind of _what ifs _and _maybes_ that could play through her mind now she knew the truth were too much to think about, because she couldn't bring herself to even consider for a minute the possibility that...

_No._

She mentally slammed on the brakes and changing the subject.

"What are you going to do about Delia?" She wondered, "Obviously you can't arrest her without evidence to back up charging her with blackmail. But you could warn Chief Quimby that she knows something about him. Maybe you could mention it at Mayor Wilson's party tomorrow night, then if Delia does try and blackmail him, he might be able to trap her, he could record her conversation or something like that."

As Gadget's eyes lit up Penny smiled, feeling sure if he was wearing his hat and his gadget mode had been on, a light bulb would have popped out of his head and lit up brightly.

"That's a good idea!" He exclaimed, "You've just given me an idea of my own – if I tell Quimby what Delia's up to, he might be able to trap her – he could catch her on tape! I'll speak to him discreetly at the party tomorrow night."

"That was just what I..."

Penny stopped right there, smiling at her Uncle Gadget, who had long ago been declared Riverton's greatest detective, even though she knew he never could have solved a single case without her even back when she was a kid...

"That's a great idea!" She told him.

Then Gadget thought about something else that was on his mind.

"Why did you say that, about wishing I'd told you a long time ago?" He wondered, "It doesn't make a difference, does it? I'm still your Uncle Gadget, I always have been and I always will be."

"I know that." Penny said, _"It's just that I..."_

She hesitated as the words refused to come together.

"_No, it doesn't matter."_

And she gave him another hug and kissed his cheek.

"I hope you sort things out okay with G2." She said to him as they reached the front door.

As she said goodbye he thought about everything he had said all over again and for a moment the worry crept back into his voice.

"Are you _sure_ it doesn't matter that I'm not your real Uncle?" He said.

Penny smiled as she looked into his eyes.

"No, it _doesn't_ matter." She promised him, and then she kissed his cheek and walked back to her car.

* * *

As Penny drove away she thought about everything that she had learned that evening, and even though she had barely touched the wine, just thinking about what she had found out made her head spin – but it was nothing compared to the tears that stung her eyes, because there had been so much more she had wanted to say - and she had backed out and told him it didn't matter.

_But it did, it mattered to her and now she had lost the one chance she would ever get to tell him exactly why..._

Penny pushed away the thoughts that made her feel as if her heart was breaking, thinking only of driving home, because she didn't want to think about anything else - _especially not the reason why her tears just wouldn't stop... _


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Penny unlocked the front door and walked in quietly.

She was sure no matter how many times she wiped her eyes she wouldn't be able to disguise the fact that she had been crying.

Max looked up from the sofa.

"Maxie went to bed an hour ago." He told her.

Penny just nodded.

_"Okay..."_ She said quietly as she took off her coat.

Then Max looked around at her again, noticing how red her eyes looked.

_"Penny?"_

There was concern in his voice as he got up and went over to her, putting his hand to her cheek in a way that was so loving she wished he had not done it.

"What's the matter? You look upset – how come you're home so early?"

She gave a sigh.

"The dinner went badly. G2 threw the Braydons out of the house. Delia Braydon was trying to blackmail my Uncle- apparently Grace isn't his daughter."

Max stared at her as he took in all she had said.

"But I thought she was the kid he fathered when he was seeing Alicia MacKenzie?"

Penny shook her head.

"I guess we _all_ thought that." She replied, "And we were wrong. My Uncle put a stop to the blackmail by just coming out with it over dinner, he said Grace isn't his daughter but he saw no reason not to adopt her. Then he said something I never knew - he said he was adopted too, when he was a baby. I just can't believe he never told me that in all the years I lived under his roof, even back when I was a kid and he was taking care of me..._I never knew!_"

Max looked back at her and saw hurt and confusion in her eyes.

As he hugged her she clung to him for a minute, then he kept hold of her as he stroked her hair.

"He's still your Uncle." He reminded her, "I _know_ how much you love him."

And as she pressed her head against her husband's shoulder Penny's eyes clouded with sadness that he did not see.

"_I know that."_ She whispered, _"But it's such a shock."_

Max pulled back a little and looked into her eyes.

"How about if you go upstairs and I'll make some coffee and we can both have an early night, we can have a lie down and talk about this?"

Penny's mind was still spinning from Gadget's revelation and right now it was all she could think about.

"No." She told him,"I'm tired, I've got a headache...you stay up, watch the movie. I'll go up right now, by myself. I need some sleep."

And then she slid out of his arms, stepping back away from his embrace and she did it so sharply he felt the loss of her, along with confusion as he finally caught sight of a look in her eyes that he could not read.

Then Penny left the room and went upstairs to be alone with her thoughts.

* * *

When morning came Gadget woke up to the sound of his daughter Alice crying, but only briefly.

He sat up and blinked tired eyes as he smiled at the sight of G2 giving their baby daughter her morning feed.

_Then G2 glared at him and his smile vanished as the events of last night came rushing back at him._

"I'm sorry if I was less than honest with you." He told her.

G2 walked over to the window and continued to feed Alice.

"I hope the reasons you stated last night were the _only_ reasons you chose to raise Grace as our child."

He felt a prickle of guilt again.

"Of course. What else would there be?"

G2 frowned.

"We named our baby _Alice_. You said it was a _nice_ name. It had better not have been because you think _Alicia_ is a nice name!"

Gadget's eyes widened as he understood the connection.

"No!" He said at once, "You said you liked the name Alice too. Don't start seeing things that are not there, G2! I told the truth last night, I came out with everything because I was _not _going to let a blackmailer get the better of me!"

And G2 gave a sigh.

As Alice stopped drinking her milk and smiled up at her, she smiled back at her daughter, feeling some of her tension lift.

Then she glanced at Gadget, who was still sitting up in bed.

"I can understand your reasoning – you have had the experience of being an adopted child and therefore you see no reason not adopt Grace. It makes perfect sense. But what _doesn't_ make sense is that you withheld these facts from me, Gadget. _Why did you do that?_"

Once more he felt like he was lucky G2 still had a logical, robotic mind because it helped her see the facts so clearly – but at the same time he felt backed into a corner over the question about why he had held the truth back from her.

He felt desperate, so he used a desperate excuse again.

"Oh...it was...um..._Doctor Claws' fault!_ I had him to deal with _and_ all the stuff with Grace's mother too..."

G2 gave another sigh; she was growing weary of his excuses, now he was using _Claw_ to try and explain all this away?

"Claw is dead. You can't blame your former deceased enemy for _this!_"

"I know." Gadget admitted, "But it was other stuff too – my body upgrade, my pelvic reconstruction...that was a _very_ stressful time for me!"

"And it still doesn't excuse you not saying to me, _by the way, Grace is not really your daughter!"_

Gadget got up and put on a dressing gown.

"I'm going to get ready for work." He told her, "I've got a long day ahead of me –I've got the party at the Mayor's house this evening, too. I want to speak to Chief Quimby about Delia Braydon but I won't see him until tonight – he's too busy getting security tight for Mayor Wilson, there's a lot of important Riverton residents attending the party."

"Will I see you later on?" She wondered, knowing he was keen to get out of her way to avoid the subject of Grace.

Gadget glanced back at her.

"Not until late. I have to get to the party early, help with the security checks, last minute stuff, that kind of thing."

Then he went into the bathroom, glad to turn his back because he hated to lie to his wife - and it hurt him t do so even more when he was looking into her eyes.

The truth was, he wasn't required at the party until it started at eight o'clock.

_He had actually planned to spend the morning parked out on the highway with his Go go gadget radar gun checking for speeders – then he was going over to Riverton Prison to visit Alicia... Then he would go off to the party to take his place at the table next to the Mayor, and when the party was over he would come back home and hopefully G2 would be asleep and he would have a few more hours respite before she started questioning him over the truth about Grace again..._

* * *

Half an hour later Gadget was in the hallway putting on his trench coat.

Grace came out of the kitchen ready for school.

"Can you take me to school in the Gadget Mobile?" She asked him.

G2 came out into the hallway and as she looked at Grace she smiled, determined that Gadget's revelation would not make a difference to their family ties.

"You want to go with Daddy?"

The little girl with dark hair and a face that had always reminded her of Gadget smiled back at her – then G2 felt a wave of sadness as it hit her for the first time:

_No, she wasn't Gadget's daughter. _

_She didn't look like him – she looked like her mother, she looked like Gadget's former lover Alicia MacKenzie..._

_But nothing changed the fact that she loved Grace like her own child._

She smiled back at her.

"Well I was going to get Alice ready and then take you to school..."

And G2 looked at Gadget and smiled at him, that smile came as a relief because he felt sure he was forgiven as he looked into her eyes.

"But Daddy can take you if he's got time." She told Grace.

"Sure I've got time." Gadget replied, then he went over to G2 and kissed her cheek, then as their eyes locked he wished he could say so much more but he knew he couldn't do that in front of Grace, so he softly kissed his wife again and then pulled away.

"I'll see you later on tonight, honey." He said to G2, then he was gone out the door and Grace followed carrying her school bag.

* * *

After taking Grace to school, Gadget spent the morning parked up on the highway but caught no speeders- because everyone knew he parked there often.

He passed the time talking to Gadget Mobile about how he'd lied to everyone about Grace, and the car had listened in sympathy.

Then later as he headed off towards Riverton Prison, Gadget found he was smiling again.

"I guess I never expected a complicated life, but I sure got one!" He remarked as the fields sped by and the car gained speed.

"And look at the trouble it's landed you in!" The car replied.

Gadget threw off that remark; today he felt good – yesterday he had foiled a would-be blackmailer, he had managed to keep his secrets safe and the only ones he'd revealed were nothing that could harm him in the long run... it had all turned out better than he'd expected it to.

"_I've got everything under control!"_ He declared with confidence.

"Until something _else_ happens, until _another_ problem comes up! G man, you're too _much_ of a player these days! I can understand how you'd want to spread some love around with the ladies once you got your _new gadget_-"

Gadget cringed at his remark.

"It's been five years and my pelvic reconstruction isn't new any more and it isn't a _gadget!_"

"You know what I mean!" The car told him, "But you've got G2, _and_ you've got Alicia...you're only seeing Alicia because you're nice to Mayor Wilson! It's like a house of cards! One wrong move and it could all come tumbling down!"

"Would you shut up?" Gadget exclaimed, "I _know_ what I'm doing. It's been five years and nothing's gone wrong so far!"

"Okay, I'm saying no more." Gadget Mobile replied, "I just hope you can keep all the balls in the air at once, know what I mean?"

_"I know."_ Gadget said, then he kept his eyes on the road ahead, not wanting to talk any more about the possible dangers of having such a tangled love life because right now nothing felt tangled, at least not to him...

* * *

Alicia MacKenzie was sitting at her writing desk, it was over by the barred window of her cell and beyond it she could see the sun shining and the green fields in the distance, closed off to the prisoners by tall electrified fencing.

As she glanced through her papers she heard the cell door open and she turned around and got up, smiling as the door closed again and she saw Gadget standing there in her cell.

"I've missed you!" She said warmly, rushing over to him and giving him a hug.

Gadget held onto her, hearing her laugh as he extended his mechanical arms and wound them twice around her body, then he squeezed her again, pressing her body against him as he kissed her, before retracting his arms and letting her go again.

"I've missed you too." He told her, taking off his hat and trench coat and then pulling his tie loose as he opened up the top buttons on his shirt.

Then he glanced over at the paperwork on her desk and he stretched out his hand, it snaked out at the wrist and he grabbed the papers off the table and his hand snapped back into place.

He smiled as he looked at Alicia.

"No glitches today!" He declared happily, then he sat down on her bed and she sat beside him as he started to read.

"This is your statement for the parole board?" He wondered.

"Yes it is." Alicia replied.

Gadget fell silent as he read her words:

'_During my time in prison I have had much time to reflect on my crimes and I have come to the same conclusion I had before I was incarcerated- that my father's views and those of his followers are wrong, that no threat is posed to the world by the cyborg population. It is my belief that the only threat to society comes from extremists like my late father and those influenced by him...'_

Gadget put the paperwork down and put his arms around Alicia once more, but this time he held her gently.

"I think," He said reaching up and brushing her dark hair from her face, "That you stand a _very_ good chance of walking out of this place soon. _And my statement to the parole board should help a great deal too._"

And then he smiled and his dark blue eyes sparkled as he saw how his words had taken her by surprise.

"But I thought you said you couldn't get involved –"

Gadget put a finger to her lips.

"I _am _getting involved. I'm talking to Chief Quimby about it tonight. I know he doesn't want me seeing you but as far as he's concerned it's been five years. There's no reason why I shouldn't speak up for you because I want Grace to know her mother, I want you out there in the world instead of being locked up in this place. He might not like it but he doesn't know I've been visiting you so there's not a lot he can say about me giving a statement. I'll try and be there in person to read it out, too."

Alicia hugged him tightly and Gadget laughed.

"Its no big deal, I'm just doing the best I can to get you out of here!"

Gratitude shone in her eyes.

"I love you so much." She whispered.

As he saw the look in her eyes his heart ached; he had long ago promised Alicia that they would be together some day, when his kids were grown up.

_He'd known when he said it that it would never happen, because he wasn't about to walk away from G2 and his children, even when the girls were older... but it had been enough to give her hope and keep her going while she was locked away and that was the reason why he had said it. He just hoped that she understood that, and now he noticed the way her eyes lit up he guessed that maybe she didn't understand it so clearly after all..._

"But you know I can't be with you?" He said carefully, "When you get out of here, I can't walk away from my family."

She blinked away tears.

"I know. But we can still see each other?"

"Yes, in time...but we have to make sure no one finds out."

Alicia wiped her eyes and managed to smile.

"That's better than nothing." She said softly, "I love you so much, Gadget."

"I love you too." He promised her, kissing her again as they fell back onto the bed together.

Then they were kissing, touching, he whispered _Gadget Mode Off_ and took her in his arms and made love to her, feeling like nothing else mattered but the moment they were sharing.

* * *

_It was growing dark when Inspector Gadget left Riverton prison._

He was feeling pleased with himself as he still carried the glow from his encounter with Alicia; it was always so secretive, so exciting to be with her...so passionate...

On the way out a female guard smiled at him as he flashed his ID and he noticed her gaze briefly wandered down his open trench coat, going below his belt and then quickly back up to his face again.

He smiled warmly at her and then walked away, heading over to Gadget Mobile who was snoozing in a nearby parking space.

"I'm back." He said.

The car woke up with a jolt.

"_Gadget my eyes are shut!"_ The car stated.

"What's the matter?" Gadget wondered.

"Did you walk out of there half undressed?" Gadget Mobile exclaimed, "Your shirt is creased, your tie is loose and your fly is _wide_ open!"

Gadget looked down and quickly pulled up his zipper, realizing _exactly_ why the guard had looked at him the way she had.

Then he smoothed down his shirt and straightened his tie before buttoning up his trench coat.

"Thanks for warning me." He said, getting into the car and blushing slightly.

"Where would you be without me?" The car exclaimed.

"In a lot of trouble I guess." Gadget replied, "Let's go to Mayor Wilson's place - I've got a party to get to!"

And the engine fired up and Gadget Mobile reversed out of the parking space and headed towards the road that would lead to Mayor Wilson's palatial home.

* * *

Gadget Mobile parked outside the Mayor's house, in a space beside other cars and Gadget got out quickly as he looked around but saw no sign of Chief Quimby.

"Have fun, G man." The car said to him.

Gadget smiled at that remark.

He glanced back at the car.

"This is strictly work." He reminded him,"I'll see you later on."

And the car shut down, softly snoring as it began the process of recharging its battery.

Gadget went up the steps to the entrance and didn't bother with his ID because the cops outside who had already performed security checks recognised him at once.

"Where's the Chief?" He wondered.

One of the men on guard pointed towards the left side of the house.

"In the Mayor's office. He had to go talk to her about something urgent.I;m not sure he wants to be disturbed."

"Thanks." Gadget replied, not letting the warning put him off - because the Chief spent most of his time finding reasons to yell at him anyway - and he went into the house, glancing through to the ballroom, where the doors were open and inside he saw tables set up ready for the party to start.

Guests were already arriving and he carefully made his way through the busy hallway and turned left, heading for the mayor's office.

He knocked on the door.

"_Go away!"_ Yelled Quimby.

Gadget knocked again.

"It's Gadget, Sir!"

There was a pause.

"Come in!" He said sharply, "And you'd better make this quick, we're in the middle of an important meeting!"

Gadget shut the door behind him and looked at Quimby and the Mayor; Quimby seemed very preoccupied with something, he looked on edge and Gadget guessed that now was _not _the best time to mention the blackmail attempt by Delia Braydon...

The Mayor was looking pink and shiny in a shockingly bright, figure hugging cocktail dress that looked as if it had been painted onto her body. The skirt was short and flared out and her shoes matched her dress, just like her bright lipstick shared the same shocking shade of pink.

Her eyes lit up like a hungry wolf and she licked her painted lips.

_"Gadget!"_ She gushed warmly, "I'm _so_ glad to see you! You're on _my_ table tonight_. You're right next to me_."

He forced a smile back at her.

"Great..." He said, wishing for a Go go gadget _anything_ to get a distance between him and that woman... _she was seated right next to him? That meant she wouldn't leave him alone for the rest of the evening, he was sure of it..._

"What do you want?" Quimby asked him, "I was just discussing the bomb threats the Mayor received this afternoon."

Gadget stared at him.

"_Bomb threats?"_

As he thought about how he had spent the afternoon wrapped in the arms of Alicia MacKenzie he felt a flicker of guilt.

"You should have contacted me, Sir! I would have swept this place from top to bottom!"

"It's already been done." The Chief told him,"_Three times!_ We found nothing. It's just another hoax, like last month there was bomb scare at the Riverton power plant – that was a hoax, too. And last week there was a threat to blow up the retail park – there was _no_ bomb! We have a hoaxer on our hands, someone who's fooling around making crank calls."

Then the Chief glared at him.

"And I _did_ try and reach you but your phone was off! I'll _never_ understand why you had your built in cell phone taken out!"

"It used to ring too often." Gadget replied.

The chief gave him a weary look.

"It doesn't matter now – there is _no_ bomb on the premises so let's just get on and see that Mayor Wilson has a successful evening entertaining her guests."

_"But Sir –"_

Mayor Wilson had already got up and headed for the door.

The Chief looked back at Gadget.

_"What?"_ He demanded.

Gadget decided the news about the blackmail attempt could wait; Quimby was definitely not in the mood for _that_ kind of news right now...

"Its Alicia Mackenzie's parole hearing the day after tomorrow. I'd like to give a statement supporting her release."

Quimby stared at him in disbelief as he recalled the scandal five years back when news had leaked to the press of Gadget's love affair with Alicia.

"No!" He said sharply, "I won't allow it. I told you, keep _away_ from that woman, you have your reputation to think of!"

"But Chief, I'm raising her daughter! Grace has got a right to spend time with her mother and Alicia has served her time –"

"I said _no,_ Gadget!" Quimby snapped, then he turned and walked off, hurrying to catch up with the Mayor.

Gadget stood alone in the Mayor's office and gave a sigh of despair; he hadn't expected Quimby to be so against the idea of it, not after all the time that had passed by...

Then Gadget left the room, closing the door behind him as he decided to join the party, where he was expected to be.

* * *

The time crawled by, twenty minutes sitting next to the Mayor was difficult for Gadget, especially when he felt something crawling up his leg, and looked down to realize it was actually the manicured hand of Mayor Wilson, her fingers playfully walking up his leg beneath the table.

Gadget had smiled politely and shifted away a little.

"I do hope if Alicia Mackenzie gets released it won't be the end of our little arrangement." Mayor Wilson said discreetly as she fixed her gaze onto Gadget.

"Of course not." Gadget told her, being already decided that as soon as he didn't need favors from the Mayor, his visits to her house would stop and forever after he would _always_ have an excuse, like being too busy with police work, to _ever _pay her a private visit again...

But he thought again about his connection to Mayor Wilson and glanced over at the Chief who was talking to another guest, and then Gadget briefly touched the Mayor's arm.

She looked around keenly.

"Yes Gadget?" She purred, giving him that smouldering look that made him want to yell _Go go Gadget fire extinguisher_.

"I want to speak up for Alicia at her parole hearing. The Chief doesn't want me to do it. Can you possibly help me with that?"

The Mayor gave a sigh.

"Alicia Mackenzie _again?_"

Gadget looked at her pleadingly.

"Can't you just help me out?"

The Mayor's eyes softened as she smiled.

"I'll speak to the Chief right now. I don't have to give my speech for another forty minutes-I have enough time."

And her eyes flashed warmly as she smiled, squeezing his thigh as she got up from her seat.

Then to his great relief she took her hand off him and she went up to Quimby, smiled as she tapped him on the shoulder, said something quietly to him and then the Chief got up too.

"This won't take a minute." She told him, and the two of them walked out of the ballroom.

Gadget gave a heavy sigh: He now owed the Mayor yet _another_ favor...

* * *

While Mayor Wilson was back in her office having a heated debate with Chief Quimby about why it wouldn't hurt to let Gadget give a statement to help Alicia's chances of release, Gadget was sitting at the table watching as the other guests had a good time.

He thought about home and guessed if he wasn't Riverton's greatest crime fighter and part of the Gadget program he wouldn't even be invited to this party in the first place...

Then he thought about the bomb hoaxer and wondered who it was.

He figured it could be absolutely _anyone_ in Riverton, because so far the police had no clues to the hoaxer's identity.

Then he slowly extended one of his ears as he tried to tune into an odd sound.

It was a brief, barely audible bleep but his enhanced hearing could pick it up right away.

_It was bleeping regularly, a second apart each time..._

Gadget quickly pulled his ear back to the side of his head before he poked someone in the eye with it, and he stood up, casually looking around, wondering where the sound was coming from.

He kept his hearing tuned into the pitch of the bleep.

And his gaze slowly shifted to the curtain beside the stage, which was set up ready for the mayor to give her speech.

Gadget walked over to the curtain and tapped a security guard on the shoulder.

"Has everything been checked in here?" He said in a low voice, "Did you check _everywhere_ for that bomb?"

The guard nodded.

"Under the tables, behind the curtains?" Gadget wondered.

_"Everywhere!"_ The guard replied, saying it like he didn't get why Gadget was asking such an obvious question.

Gadget indicated behind the curtain.

"Keep your voice down, we don't want panic in here but I think there _is_ a bomb."

The guard stared at him.

"It's all been checked!"

"When?"

"Before the party began. There was nothing there."

_"There is now."_ Gadget said in a hushed voice, and he pulled back the curtain briefly, exposing a black box taped to the wall.

_The timer was flashing red and the minutes were counting down._

_No: not minutes._

_Seconds... forty seconds..._

"Oh Christ!" The guard said, grabbing his radio and alerting the rest of security, then running over to the door to start evacuating the building.

Gadget looked around the vast room, then he looked up and got an idea.

_"Go go gadget cigarette lighter!"_ He exclaimed.

A hand popped from the top of his hat and clicked a lighter, as the flame rose the hand rose, all the way up to the smoke alarm.

The heat sensors went crazy and the alarm began to squeal and water sprinklers turned on , showering down on unsuspecting guests who began to rise from their seats.

Then the lighter went out and the hand slid back into his hat.

_"Everyone get out!"_ Gadget yelled, _"It's the fire alarm!"_

People began to scramble from their seats rapidly.

Gadget ran over to a side door and wrenched it open, then shot out an extending arm to push back one of the double doors that had closed to the main entrance.

As the door stayed firmly open he drew his arm back, then he ran back to the curtain and ripped it aside.

_There were wires looped over the top of the box. _

_Three wires. _

_Red, blue and black._

_He had no idea which one would stop the timer._

_People were still running, screaming, chairs were knocked over, it was chaos._

_But people were getting out._

_He looked again at the wires._

Gadget took a deep breath.

"_No glitches..."_ He murmured, deeply concentrating as he got ready to say _Go go gadget wire cutter_.

But then he looked at the timer.

He stared at it, realizing there was no time left.

A split second thought ran through his mind as the last of the time slipped away: _this was his last thought._

And his last thought surprised him as the numbers blinked his life away:

_00:2_

_00:1_

_And he saw her standing there in a white lace dress, looking beautiful on her wedding day._

_She looked like an angel._

"_Penny..." He whispered._

_The timer blinked again:_

_00:0_

Then there was a blast that he didn't hear because the force of the explosion wiped out everything.

His last memory was a blinding light and a scorching heat, and then the world fell to darkness.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Penny felt nervous as the taxi sped on its way through the darkness towards the mansion that belonged to Mayor Wilson.

She had thought about her Uncle Gadget's plan to speak to the Chief about the possible blackmail threat and she had decided to turn up at the party, just to make sure he had got the message across to him.

She gave a sigh and brushed down the material of the short back dress she was wearing. Her shoes were new; not _exactly_ brand new - she had bought them six months ago – but they were new in the sense that she had never worn them before.

The heels were slightly too high for comfort but she had chosen them because they were covered with hundreds of tiny mirrored sequins; when she walked they sparkled as if covered with star dust. They were perfect for the party.

She was only doing this for her Uncle Gadget - that was what she had told Max when she'd asked him to take care of their son because she was going out, she had decided to show up at the party at the last minute...

Then Penny thought about it again:

_He wasn't her Uncle Gadget._

_They were not related_...

Then the taxi turned the corner and Penny stared at the black smoke that was blowing up into the darkening sky. Flames were licking from the windows of one of the downstairs rooms, she looked to the ballroom that used to curve out in a wide, white sweep and she stared in horror as she tried to make sense of what she saw:

_There was a gaping hole in the mansion. _

_Half of Mayor Wilson's house was in ruins._

_Half of the house was gone...  
_

_Rubble was strewn over the wide gardens, people were covered in soot and their clothes were stained with blood and plaster and masonry dust._

_Fire fighters were trying to put out the blaze in the burning section of the house._

_Police and paramedics were everywhere, blue flashing lights were lighting up the garden like something out of a nightmare._

The taxi stopped halfway down the drive.

"I'm not going any closer," The driver told her, "Looks like there's been some kind of explosion..."

Penny grabbed her purse and shoved money into the driver's hand, her mouth was still open and her eyes wide with shock as she got out of the taxi.

"You gave me a fifty, don't you want the change?"

She heard the driver call out, but Penny didn't answer. She was already running up the gravel path, her head spinning in panic as she dodged rubble and stepped over people who were injured and being attended to by ambulance crews.

She coughed as the smoke hit her lungs.

The air was filled with the smell of burning and the fire was going out now but she couldn't see her Uncle Gadget anywhere.

Penny grabbed hold of a cop who was leading a woman with a bleeding arm out of the building.

"_Where's Inspector Gadget?"_ She demanded.

Then someone grabbed her shoulder.

"_Penny."_

He coughed.

Penny spun sharply around, staring at Chief Quimby, who had dust over his suit and a blood stain on his shirt.

"What happened?" She gasped.

Quimby's eyes were wide with shock.

"It was a bomb." He said "A bomb...Gadgets in the ballroom...Lula's with him...they're doing all they can-"

As Penny turned to run inside, a woman leaned on Quimby's shoulder and made a grab at Penny's hand.

"Don't go in there, Penny." She told her, "Just wait here, with us. You _don't_ want to see him like that –"

Penny shook off her grip, blinking as she realized the woman covered in dust with a large cut on the back of her hand that was bleeding profusely was Mayor Wilson.

"_I have to go in there!"_ She told her.

Quimby took hold of the Mayor and led her towards the paramedics, he glanced back sparing a thought for Penny and what she was about to witness in what was left of the ballroom, and then the Mayor came close to fainting so he held her up and took her over to the nearest ambulance.

* * *

Penny ran through the debris, into the darkened remains of the ballroom.

The furthest part of the room was gone, wide open and exposed to the night. On the other side of the room part of the structure was standing solid where the rest had simply been blown away. In the darkened gloom she saw Lula Smith, the cybernetics expert who had been responsible for Gadgets upgrade a few years back, Lula who was the mother of his daughter Emily, the result of their one night together...

_Lula was here? Why was Lula called out to tend to her Uncle Gadget?_

Suddenly it hit her that this was serious.

Penny had not had time to think as she had seen the devastation and realized her Uncle was trapped in the building. It was only when she stepped forward and quickly drew her foot up again, avoiding some rubble that she realized she had lost one of her shoes, too.

But she barely cared about anything; all she could do was stand there, staring as she took in what was happening:

There was a man lying across some rubble and broken furniture.

A nurse was holding a dressing tightly over one side of his face and he was on his side. His clothing had been cut open and Lula was on her knees beside him, drawing a scalpel slowly down his lower back.

He gave a sharp cry of pain and she spoke softly to him.

_Penny stepped closer, blinking back tears...the man Lula was trying to save was her Uncle Gadget..._

Lula glanced up and saw Penny.

"Sit with him." She said to her quietly, "He's got internal injuries and it's not looking good. Just keep the dressing on his face... he's got a facial injury too."

The nurse moved over to give her space, Penny fell hard to her knees, not caring about the rubble as it scratched her legs, barely feeling the pain of it because she was so numb with the shock of it all.

Lula reached over quickly and pressed Penny's hand harder against the dressing that covered half of Gadgets face.

"Keep his head in your lap. _Keep him still_. He won't lose control of his gadget mode, I cut the connection, I manually turned it off so I could work on him safely. He's in pain and he could get a glitch and with the way he's feeling anything could happen, so I had to neutralize the risk of that."

And as Gadget weakly turned his head slightly, he looked up at Penny, and Penny saw a small wound on his temple where Lula had made an incision and pulled out the microchip that controlled his gadget mode. The chip was partly exposed and one of the wires had been cut and turned away from its connection.

_"Penny..."_

His voice was weak and his breathing shallow.

He coughed and Penny gave a gasp as something oily tinged with a rust colour ran from the corner of his mouth.

The nurse wiped it away and then handed Penny the towel and Penny caught more of the fluid, wiping it away so that he could breathe again.

"It's blood and oil." Lula said quietly "He's bleeding heavily and I have to stabilize him before I can move him."

Penny kept the dressing pressed tight to his face and reached down and grabbed hold of his hand.

"Uncle Gadget," She said, "I'm here, I'm with you."

Gadget looked up at Penny. His eyes barely focussed on her.

"_It hurts..."_ He murmured.

"Not for much longer." Lula promised him, reaching into the open case that was at her side.

Penny stared as she took out wire cutters.

Lula glanced at the nurse.

"Call the lab and tell them, twenty minutes and I need the OR ready. He's got a major trauma to a main connecting pipe and he has human tissue trauma too. And call his wife, she needs to be informed..."

"I can do that –"Penny said.

"No." Lula told her," Just hold him still. He needs to hear your voice; he's so much calmer now you're here. Just talk to him."

Penny was still looking at the blades on the wire cutter.

"What are you doing to him?" Her voice was edged with panic as Lula opened up the small cut in the middle of his back and Gadget gave a weak cry of pain.

Lula replied to Gadget, not to Penny as she concentrated on a difficult task, knowing one slip could prove fatal.

"Gadget," She said clearly, "I'm going to cut your cybernetic spinal connection. It's easy to fix again, it's just wiring. But you'll go numb once it's cut, you won't feel any more pain, okay?"

He closed his eyes and gripped Penny's hand tighter.

Penny saw blood and oil run from the incision as Lula carefully lifted a thin cable away from his human spine. As she closed the blades around it, Penny looked away, letting go of Gadget's hand and stroking his hair as she held the dressing to the side of his face and leaned closer to him, whispering that it would all be okay as her tears fell on to his face.

She heard the blades close around the cable and cut through it with a _snap_ and pain seemed to shoot through her own body for a moment as she felt him go rigid in her arms, then suddenly Gadget relaxed and breathed out easily.

"Does it still hurt?" Lula asked him.

_"No..."_ Gadget whispered gratefully, and he slowly opened his eyes and looked up at Penny.

He knew she was crying but he felt too weak to ask her why or even to think about it.

"_Thanks."_ He said weakly_, "Thanks for helping me... don't cry, Penny..."_

Then she heard Lula say her name.

She said it again and Penny looked at her.

Lula had covered the wound in Gadget's back.

"I need to turn him on his back. Just keep the dressing on his face for me. He won't feel any pain; he's numb from the chest down now."

Penny nodded, carefully moving him as Lula rolled him over.

As Gadget rolled onto his back Penny saw a deep wound just below his ribcage that was leaking oil and blood at an alarming rate.

"Don't look." She said to Penny, who was too shocked by what she saw to manage to look away.

As Lula put her hand into the wound and her fingers slid about oily, blood covered mixtures of machine and human tissue, she tried not to think about how much she cared about Gadget, about how he was Emily's father, about how he was most likely going to die from his injuries if she couldn't find the break in the pipe...

Then she found the break, it was so sharp she winced as metal snagged and bit deep into her index finger.

"I've got it." She said, pushing her free hand into an open jar of a mixture that looked like glue and then, to Penny's horror, she also pushed this hand into Gadget's open wound.

"What are you doing?" She said in alarm.

Lula said nothing for a moment as she felt around for the right place, then she shoved it against the break and finally pulled her finger free of the torn metal.

As she removed her hands from the wound blood pumped from her fingertip.

"It's a temporary sealant." She told her, "I can get him moved now - there's a chance he might make it..."

* * *

Gadget knew he was free of pain and he recalled everything like a dream as he was lifted from the floor.

_Had there been an explosion?_

There had been once – before he'd become Inspector Gadget.

He knew that was in the past.

Something else had happened..._tonight?_

He finally recalled the timer, he thought about what he'd remembered:

_Penny._

_Not Penny as a little girl, but Penny as woman, on her wedding day looking like an angel..._

Then he looked up and as the dressing was taken off his face and replaced with another he caught a glimpse of Penny, she was standing beside him and she had started to cry.

He noticed she was wearing a sparkling shoe but the other one was missing.

Then he couldn't think any more because his eyes were closing and he briefly thought about a timer that had hit zero, and the world went black all over again.

* * *

Chief Quimby was still shaken by everything that had happened, it had happened all too fast.

His first thought as the blast had shook the house was_, Gadget's had a glitch...a big firework, maybe?_

Then he had picked himself up off the floor and pulled the Mayor to her feet and looked around in the haze of plaster and masonry and suddenly he was aware of a silence that cut through the air that told him at once this was_ nothing t_o do with a minor glitch from Gadget...

As he forced open the door of the office and seen the devastation that lie beyond, he had yelled for Gadget, ready to grab hold of Riverton's greatest crime fighter and demand that he find the person who had done this.

Then he had seen the ballroom.

He had seen dead bodies, he had seen people walking around like zombies as they took in the shock of what had happened, bleeding and numb with the horror of it all.

Then he had shouted for his wife, gripped by the fear that Mrs Quimby had been killed...a lot had gone through his mind in the time he couldn't measure between looking for her and finding her:

_Like, how he was sorry that he had ever cheated on her so many years ago with a woman who was then Mrs Wilson and not Mayor, one affair that had long ago finished and slipped back into a very professional working relationship... it was still there and coming back at him ghostly like the smoke that filled the building, as if he was in a world of ghosts and every regret he ever had was coming back to haunt him and turning to lead in the bottom of his heart._

Then Mrs Quimby had staggered over some rubble and he had grabbed hold of her and shook her, yelling as he demanded to know where the hell she had been.

She had looked at him with a confused expression in her eyes as she tried to process what had just happened to the building and told him:

"I was in the bathroom..."

The Chief had grabbed her and held her tighter than he had held for many years, fighting back tears as he said the only words that would come:

"_I'm sorry..."_

Now Mrs Quimby was safely on her way home and the Mayor had got her hand attended to and then gone to the hospital suffering from shock.

The Chief had wanted to go home to be with his wife and remind himself constantly that she was unharmed, but he couldn't turn his back on duty and after waiting for the last of the injured to be taken to the hospital he had waited around, organizing his men. After the place was sealed off and forensics had turned up, he had driven over to Riverton Hospital, then gone to the large cybernetics lab attached to it, because he needed to know how Gadget was doing.

When he got there he found Penny and G2 sitting together in a private room, waiting for news.

G2 looked tired and Penny's eyes were red from crying.

"I'm so very sorry." Quimby said as he saw the look in their eyes; both women looked equally devastated.

"We searched for a bomb and there was _no_ bomb...who ever planted it must have done it at the last minute, when the guests were arriving. I haven't heard from forensics yet – they won't miss anything, they'll find something..."

He sat down heavily and looked at G2 and then asked the question he was afraid to ask, because he dreaded the answer:

"How's Gadget?"

G2 looked pale and her voice was quiet as she replied; the news of the bombing had come as a shock and her first thought was that Gadget would already be on the case – she hadn't realized at first, drowsy with heavy sleep because she was looking after her young demanding baby, that he was actually among the injured.

"He's in surgery." She said, "He's taken some serious damage internally. Both to his robotic parts and his human tissue. Lula said he's got to have a major pipe repaired; it's like having a torn artery. They have to seal it up. He's got a serious stomach wound too, she's going to try and patch the hole with artificial tissue. And he's got facial injuries, I don't know how badly, I only got here half an hour ago, I haven't even seen him yet."

Penny spoke up as G2 fell silent.

"He was conscious after the explosion. I was with him while Lula treated him at the scene. He was talking at first and then he just went quiet and he passed out. He didn't wake up again..."

And she blinked away tears.

"Max is looking after the kids for both of us. We're going to stay here all night, all day...as long as it takes."

Quimby gave a heavy sigh and briefly wiped his eyes, holding back so much as he thought about all he had heard about what Gadget had done when he found the bomb.

"He found it right at the last minute." He said quietly, "He set off the fire alarm and the water sprinklers to clear the area. There were more than five hundred people at that party. He saved a lot of lives. He's a hero."

And Penny and G2 said nothing in reply as they sat in silence and waited for news.

* * *

While Gadget was on the operating table and Lula was working to repair the damage, Chief Quimby stayed with Gadget's family, but nobody said another word as each remained lost in their own thoughts:

G2 was thinking about how they had almost fallen out over his revelation that Grace was not his child; that didn't matter any more, Grace loved him like a father and when she had to wake her up to tell her the news, Grace had sobbed and sobbed because her Daddy had been hurt in an explosion...

_Her Daddy._

At that moment G2 felt sure she could never raise the subject of his lies about Grace again, it didn't matter who her real parents were:

_Grace had become Gadgets daughter and that was all that mattered now, because when he woke up, no matter how bad his injuries were, he would need his kids because he loved them, he would need them close to him..._

Penny was silently turning over her own thoughts, wishing to share them with no one:

Lula had said when they arrived at the lab that Gadget had only survived the explosion because he was a cyborg. She had also said that if he stabilized he would recover, it would be slow but everything cybernetic from his skin to his robotic parts could be repaired.

It still broke her heart to think that Lula had been forced to cut his artificial spine to stop his pain, but she remembered it could easily be fixed.

_Everything could be fixed._

_As long as her Uncle could hold on and fight..._

She gave a sigh, looking down at the floor because she didn't want to look left or right and meet the eyes of Quimby or G2 at this moment:

She was doing it again, thinking about her Uncle Gadget.

_But he wasn't her Uncle._

_They were not related._

And the more she thought about it, the more she felt a pain in her heart as she pushed away thoughts that were too deep, too much and at this moment in time, scared her far too greatly to even stop and think about for a second...

* * *

Around the time when dawn was starting to break, Lula finally walked down the corridor and found G2 and Penny sitting with Chief Quimby.

It was never easy to break bad news to anyone but this was very difficult for Lula; she had fought for hours to get the damage repaired and nothing had been easy and if Gadget recovered from this, he would have one hell of a fight to get there because he was _still_ in a critical condition...

"How is he?" G2 said anxiously as she got up, looking at Lula with fearful eyes.

"He's okay, isn't he? Please tell us he's okay..." Penny was saying as she stood beside her.

Quimby got up and stood back a little, suddenly feeling in the way; _this was a time for Gadget's family to be close to him, not his boss..._

Lula looked exhausted, her face was pale and shadows were faintly visible under her eyes. It had been hard enough fighting all night long to save the life of a cyborg as badly hurt as Gadget was, but even worse to have to do that knowing her patient was her former lover, the father of her daughter Emily...

"I managed to repair the broken pipe." Lula said, "And he's been fitted with some metal plating over his abdominal area and also over the right side of his face. It's not permanent, the membrane that covers his upgraded bones and tissue will recover and as that happens the skin will grow back beneath the metal plates and in three months time the plates can come off and the skin will be fully restored. But Gadget has two major problems - the first is how much essential fluids he's lost because of the bleed. We can put the fluid back but it's knocked out a lot of his controls that regulate his body and he's very weak, he's still critical. The thermostat that controls his body temperature was damaged too and it's going to take days for that to get back to normal. It could be a while before we see signs of him stabilizing. And secondly, assuming he does recover, he will have a very difficult time at first because of the injuries to his human organs..."

She paused, trying to find a better way to put it but realizing there _was_ no easy way to explain this.

"He's got a serious stomach injury. Basically part of his stomach was torn by the impact of the explosion. All his living tissue is upgraded and can heal very rapidly – but _only_ if the tissue is there to grow over and in this case it's _not_. So I used some cybernetic skin to patch the hole and it should encourage the hole to close up. But again, it's a twelve week process. So there's a seal in the abdominal plate and it can be opened so he can get everything he needs for both his organic and non organic body to be fed, but it will have to go through a tube and for the first three weeks while the graft takes it's going to be painful, so I wont even _consider_ reconnecting his artificial spine until he's at the stage where the most severe pain is over for him. Right now he can't feel anything below his chest and he has to stay that way until he improves. But _if_ he pulls through this he stands every chance of making a full recovery - it will just take time."

"So he's going to make it?" Penny said, desperate for Lula to say _yes_.

As she caught the look of sadness in her eyes she knew she would not get the answer she needed to hear.

"He's critical." She said again, "Nothing is definite at this stage, he isn't stable yet. It could be a long time until that happens. All we can do is wait."

The Chief had listened to everything Lula had said and now, as much as he wanted to see Gadget, he felt sure that he was in the way.

"I'd better go and speak to the press." He said quietly, "Keep me informed. As soon as there's a change in his condition, I want to know about it."

Lula nodded and the Chief turned and walked away, not feeling at all ready to make any kind of statement because his emotions were all over the place as if that bomb had shaken up every nerve in his body – and every emotion, too...

* * *

"Can we see him now?" G2 asked Lula.

"Of course you can." She told her, "We've moved him from the lab to a private room, it's much better for him to be in there, and there's enough room for one of you to sleep over night if you want to."

"_I'll do it."_ Penny said quickly.

G2 blinked and looked at her in surprise. "Oh Penny, that's so kind of you – but I'm the one who should be here for Gadget."

"But you get so tired with the baby." Penny reminded her, "Just let me stay here, G2. I don't mind. You'll want to go home and see Alice later on, right?"

G2 thought of her baby daughter and what Penny had just said made perfect sense.

She nodded.

"We'll take turns staying with him."

"Good idea." Penny replied, "Then he won't be alone."

And then the two women walked down the corridor as Lula led them towards Gadget's room.

* * *

As Chief Quimby faced the press on the steps at the entrance to Riverton hospital, the last thing he wanted to see were the camera flashes and hear the noise as several people spoke at once, it just reminded him of the panic and the chaos in the moments before the bomb went off.

He held up his hand for silence and then took in a deep breath.

He caught sight of TV cameras nearby and it was only the sight of those cameras that reminded him the eyes of the whole of Riverton would be on him and he had to shove aside all personal feelings...

_He was Chief Quimby._

_He hadn't got to be Chief by being soft hearted and softly spoken._

And he was _not_ going to weep public tears even though it was taking all his strength to hold them back as he spoke about the events of the previous night.

He mentally pulled himself together and made his statement to the press:

"_Last night a bomb destroyed a large part of Mayor Wilson's house. There was a party going on and it was only thanks to the actions of Inspector Gadget that most of the guests escaped with their lives. I have been told fourteen people are dead, more than a dozen are injured and Inspector Gadget of Riverton Police, our finest crime fighter, remains in a critical condition. He suffered blast injuries and at this stage we do not know if he will recover. He was conscious and talking to his niece Penny shortly after the explosion and he's now had surgery and remains critical. I can tell you he will not give up without a fight. He's fighting for his life with the same kind of courage he showed in the moments before the explosion and-"_

Quimby stopped, blinking away the tears that threatened to burn at his vision.

He took in a sharp breath and looked back at the press.

"_And he is a true hero in every sense of the word. For now, all we can do is wait and hope that he will make a recovery. "_

Then he thought about the cause of this nightmare situation and his voice hardened as anger blazed in his eyes:

"The person who carried out this horrific act will be caught. The Riverton Bomber will be found and brought to justice. _That is something I CAN assure you of!_"

And as more questions were thrown in his direction, the Chief shook his head.

"No more questions please, there is nothing further to say at this stage. Thank you."

And then he politely pushed his way through the crowd, ignoring more questions and tugs on his sleeve and got free of the crush as he got out of the crowd and then quickly headed over to his car, glad to be getting out of there, glad to be going home to his wife and peace and quiet.

Gadget was still on his mind as he got in the car, but then he thought about his home, his family and then as the bomb went off in his mind yet again, he concluded he ought to be grateful he was able to have got out of there in one piece:

_He still had his life intact, nothing broken, nothing lost..._

Again his thoughts switched to Gadget and stayed with Gadget as he drove home to his wife, saying a silent prayer on the way as he asked God for one small favour- _to please let Gadget pull through this and recover from his injuries..._

* * *

Lula opened the door and led Penny and G2 into Gadget's room.

"I'll leave you to sit with him." She said quietly.

As she left the room she closed the door behind her and Penny just stood there, looking around the room at the pale walls and the open curtains that were letting in the first rays of the morning sunlight.

Over one side of the room was a bed that folded down from the wall and she guessed it wouldn't be too comfortable, but she would be sleeping there tonight, there was no way she was leaving him, not until he opened his eyes and she knew he was out of danger.

G2 sat down next to Gadget's bedside and took hold of his hand.

"Gadget." She said quietly and as he gave no response, she just looked at him, wishing he would wake up, but he remained still.

Penny blinked away tears as she stepped closer to the bed.

The covers were folded down to his hips and she could see a large plate of metal that ran across his abdominal wound, covering it completely.

As she got closer she blinked again as her vision blurred and when it cleared she gave a sob as she saw the shiny metal that covered the right side of his face; it moulded to his skin like a half mask, starting at his jaw and curving upwards, covering his cheek, sweeping under his eye and tapering off at his temple just below his hairline.

"_His face..."_ Penny said tearfully, reaching out and cautiously touching the metal and finding that it seemed surprisingly soft and warm.

"It's partly living metal." G2 told her, not quite as upset as Penny on seeing the physical damage to the cyborg half of his body, "Lula's right - when it comes off his face will be just the way it used to be."

And Penny's gaze shifted down his body to the plate that covered his wound. She saw the valve that was closed up right now and then she thought about his stomach injury.

"He can't even eat!"

"He will get over all of this." G2 told her, "As long as he recovers. That's the most important thing, he _has_ to get stronger."

And she stroked her husband's hair.

"I'm here for you, Gadget." She said softly, "And so is Penny. You have to fight; you _have_ to get through this."

Then G2s voice began to weaken as he still did not respond.

She watched as he breathed slowly and evenly, with his eyes closed and the metal fused to his face and body while lines ran into his arms pumping in mixtures of blood and oil and while the fluids went in, the equipment around the bed kept track of his vital signs.

He was breathing unaided but showing no other sign of life.

_"Don't die."_ G2 whispered, and then she was aware of the odd sensation that she had never quite got used to having been a robot before acquiring this humanoid body:

She wiped a tear from her eye, pausing to look at it as it glistened on her finger.

"Please Gadget," She said again, "You have to live, we _all _need you - I need you and so do our children. _And Penny... she needs you too_."

Penny had heard every word G2 had just said, and as she turned away from the bed she walked over to the window, her tearful eyes hurting as she looked at the brightness of the breaking dawn, not caring the suns rays were hurting her vision as they poked at her pupils like needle points:

_Anything would be better than to turn around at this moment, to let G2 see the look in her eyes._

_Yes, she did need him. _

_She hurt so much for him she would have changed places with him if it were possible, anything to spare him suffering._

_And she needed him to live desperately, more than G2 would ever understand, more than she understood herself. .. _

Penny carried on looking into the sun, letting the tears run down her face as she dared not look back until she had this under control again.

But it was hard to control this feeling that she barely understood:

_All she knew for sure was that seeing him like this was tearing her heart into pieces - and if he didn't recover she knew those pieces of her heart would never go back together in the same way again..._


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

G2 was resting on the bed over by the wall. Her eyes were closed and she was sleeping soundly.

Penny thought about waking her and asking her if she wanted to go home for a rest, a _real _rest because she looked shattered and she had Alice to get back to, she wouldn't want to be away from her for too long, even though Max was taking care of the kids...

Penny felt an ache in her back as she straightened up in the chair beside Gadget's bed.

Then he suddenly breathed in sharply, waking suddenly with a look of fear in his eyes as he took in his strange surroundings and realized he felt as if half his body was missing.

"_Uncle Gadget?"_

Penny spoke softly as she leaned over him.

She took hold of his hand and he started to shiver as a sense of cold swept over his upper body.

"What's wrong with me?" He said breathlessly," I can't move..."

"There was an explosion." She told him gently, stroking his hair as he carried on shaking, "You were so brave, you helped to clear the building...Lula had to treat you at the scene. You got some –"

"_Damage..._" He was still slightly breathless and the panicked look remained in his eyes.

"_She...she cut my spine...and..."_

He stopped, recalling the timer hitting zero.

"It's easy to fix." She reminded him, "You got hurt, you need to rest. You'll be okay, everything will be okay..."

Gadget took in another shaken breath as he looked at her with frightened eyes.

"_I can't move..."_ He said tearfully.

"Do you remember Lula cutting the connection in your back?"

Gadget closed his eyes again as weakness swept over him.

"I...I think so..."

He opened his eyes once more and looked up at her.

"_Get...get the Chief...I...I need to see him..."_

He gasped for air again and trembled.

"What's the matter, why are you shaking?" Penny asked him, feeling horribly powerless to do a thing about it.

"_Cold...I'm so... cold..."_ Gadget whispered, shivering as his skin turned pale.

Penny hit the button next to the bed to call for help.

G2 sat up and opened her eyes, then she stared at Penny, who was leaning over Gadget's bed as he opened his eyes, closed them again and continued to shiver.

"Gadget?" She said anxiously as she went over to his bedside.

"He just woke up and said he was cold-"

Penny glanced up to see Lula hurry into the room.

"He woke up and then he started shaking. He said he's cold."

Lula checked his vital signs and then put her hand on his shoulder, feeling his skin.

"He's ice cold." She said, checking his vitals again,"It's his thermostat, he's too unstable to regulate it because he's weak. He could go into hypothermic shock, it's a common compliation when a cyborg has a weak fuctioning temperature regulator."

Gadget opened his eyes slowly, seeing shadows over above his bed.

Then he realized Lula was there and she was adjusting one of the lines that ran into his arm.

"It's okay Gadget." She said to him, "Just try and stay calm..."

Gadget blinked and saw G2 beside him, then he noticed Penny was next to her- and they both looked tearful.

Penny gave his hand a squeeze.

"It's okay." She whispered, "Just hold on, hold on, don't give up...you _have_ to fight."

Then Penny gave a sob as Gadget's eyes closed and his hand slipped from her grasp.

"What's happening?" She said tearfully as she looked at Lula.

"Just a minute," Lula said quickly, turning back to the phone in the wall and quickly speaking into it.

Then she slammed the phone down and began to disconnect some of the less essential equipment he was hooked up to.

G2 felt a wave of alarm wash over her as more nursing staff came into the room and prepared Gadget to be moved from the room.

"Where are you taking him?" She said anxiously.

As Lula spoke to G2, Penny grabbed hold of Gadget's hand and kissed it but he knew nothing of this because he was deeply unconscious.

"_Please_ hold on." She said tearfully as the staff began to move his bed from the room and his hand was pulled from her grip.

Penny turned back to Lula, who was explaining to G2.

"Gadget's critical and he can't regulate his temperature properly. It's reached a life threatening level so I'm taking him back into surgery to see if we can manually fix the problem. We can go in under the metal plating and work on him internally from there. I'm sorry but there's no time, I have to do this now or he won't survive."

And Lula hurried from the room.

G2 looked at Penny with tears in her eyes.

"_I'm losing him." _She said tearfully.

Penny put her arms around her and hugged her tightly.

"No." She said firmly, as she wished she could believe her own words_, "We won't lose him, we won't!"_

* * *

Alicia MacKenzie was not expecting a visitor to her cell so early in the morning, and it came as a surprise when the cell door closed behind the man who had just walked into the room.

It was even more of a surprise to find that man was not Gadget...it was _Chief Quimby?_

"Hello Miss MacKenzie." He said, sounding tense as she sat down at her desk and put her paperwork to one side and he sat down too, pulling another chair out sharply and sitting beside her.

"Why are you here, Chief Quimby?" She wondered, getting an uneasy feeling as he glared at her.

"I was hoping you'd already know that." He said coldly, "And by the way, you can forget about your parole hearing tomorrow – it's been postponed!"

And he took a newspaper from his jacket and slammed it onto her desk.

Alicia picked it up and unfolded it, recognising Gadget's picture as he smiled back at her; it was a picture that had been taken around a year ago when he had been named Crime Fighter of the year again, but this paper carried today's date and as she read the headlines her eyes grew wider.

"_A True Hero?"_ She whispered, then she read more:

"_Heroic Inspector Gadget of Riverton Police Department is in a critical condition following a bombing at the home of Mayor Wilson?"_

Her voice choked off as tears filled her eyes and she read more, enough to understand what had happened, reading about how he had raised the alarm, saving many lives – before getting caught up in the explosion...

Then she stopped reading and her gaze fell on Gadget's picture again and tears ran down her face.

"Don't you have anything to say?" Quimby demanded, and then he broke the news to her that he had been furiously waiting to share ever since a phone call had come that very morning...

"The Police Department got a call at nine am today from _your _people, Alicia! They said they were an ACR splinter cell and they claimed responsibility! _Now tell me, which one of your cyborg hating, pure-human, anti robotic, nazi bastard friends did this?_"

Alicia stared at him in disbelief.

"No..." She said tearfully, "No, you're _wrong!_ There are _no_ more ACR! Who ever told you that is a _liar!_ And _why_ would you think I would do something like this?"

For a moment she lost her voice as she tried to speak but could only sob. Then she snatched up the paper and showed him Gadget's picture.

"_I LOVE THIS MAN!" _She shouted, _"We've been seeing each other for five years, why the hell would I encourage anyone to do such a terrible thing – especially to the man I love? Ask him, ask Gadget! I'M HIS MISTRESS!"_

And then she clutched the paper, her dark falling forwards as she leaned closer to his picture, sobbing as her tears fell onto the news headline.

Quimby had been stunned into silence.

He stood up, his gaze still fixed on Alicia as she sobbed and sobbed for the man she loved...He had seen enough criminals and liars over the years to know when a person was either guilty or a liar - _and Alicia MacKenzie was definitely neither, she was sobbing like her heart was truly broken..._

"I _will_ be speaking to Gadget about what you told me." He said quietly, "Thank you for the information."

And Alicia carried on sobbing, she sobbed for several minutes after the cell door closed, shedding more tears alone.

Then she took in a breath and ran her fingers down the front page of the newspaper as she looked at Gadget's picture and thought about what had happened:

_He was injured? He was fighting for his life?_

Alicia put down the newspaper and ran over to the cell door, opening the small window as she pulled herself up higher and grabbed hold of the bars.

"_I WANT A PHONE CALL!"_ She yelled,"_IT'S AN EMERGENCY, I WANT A PHONE CALL RIGHT NOW!"_

* * *

Gadget had been in surgery for more than two hours.

When Lula finally came out of the operating room she walked down to the waiting area where G2 and Penny were anxiously waiting for news, and as she spoke to them she knew the news would be not be easy for them to take in – _because it was far from good..._

"We managed to solve the problem of his thermostat." She said, "But the only way we could do that was to override it and hook him up to a separate regulator. Until he's stronger, the machine will work for him and keep his body temperature stable. But he started going into multi function shut down and it was quite a struggle to get him stable. He's stable now but _only _because of the machinery. And he's deeply unconscious. He will probably remain that way until he starts to get stronger and make a recovery – which could be in a matter of days or..."

As she tried to stay professional she found it near impossible; _she had been close to him too once, he was the father of her youngest daughter..._

She blinked back tears as she looked at G2 and Penny.

"I'm so very sorry," She said, "But there are no guarantees. You have to be prepared for the fact that he may never wake up. He may never recover, we just don't know at this stage. _There is a very real possibility that he could die_."

G2 nodded and took in a sharp breath, hoping she could be strong enough to get through this, to be strong for her husband.

Then she heard Penny give a sob and she put her arms around her as she started to cry inconsolably.

* * *

Half an hour later, when Penny walked into Gadget's room, she felt strangely relieved to see him back in his bed, back in his room- despite what Lula had told her, he looked so much better now, even if it was only the machinery that was keeping him stable...

"Uncle Gadget?" She whispered as she gently gave his hand a squeeze.

Gadget remained still, he was on his back and hooked up to the same machines as before, except that now a cable ran under the metal plate that covered his abdominal wound and that cable ran to a small machine that kept his body temperature stable.

"He's not cold any more." She said as G2 sat down on the other side of his bed.

G2 looked at her husband for a moment and then gently touched his face.

"He feels warm." She said quietly, "He looks so much better...I don't think I can even imagine losing him, Penny."

As she heard her say those words Penny nodded, knowing she felt exactly the same way.

"We won't." She said, "He's a fighter. Think about everything he's been through in the past – the reason why he became a cyborg in the first place- he's a fighter, he's going to get through this. He _has_ to."

Then Lula came back into the room.

"There's a phone call for Gadget." She said, looking slightly unsure of the reaction this news would bring, "_Alicia Mackenzie's calling from Riverton Prison?_ She's absolutely hysterical, she's demanding to know how he is. I didn't know what I ought to say because she's not a relative –"

"She's Graces mother." G2 said, "It's understandable that she would be concerned, after all, we are bringing up Grace for her. I'll take the call."

And Lula lifted up the phone on the wall and spoke to the main switchboard, asking them to put the call through.

"_Hello?"_ Said Alicia, still sounding distraught.

"Just a minute." Lula said, and she handed the phone to G2.

All Gadget's wife heard at first was the sound of Alicia sobbing.

"Hello Alicia?" She said kindly, "This is his wife, this is G2. Please try and calm down, Grace is absolutely fine. No matter what happens Grace will be fine. I can understand how you feel as a mother –"

"_As a mother?"_ Alicia said tearfully, "I _know _my daughter's okay! I just want to know that Gadget's still alive, _please_ tell me he's going to make it!"

"Gadget?" G2 said, feeling confused, "Grace, I know you once had a brief relationship with him but that was a long time ago. My husband is in a critical condition –"

"_I need to see him, you don't understand - I LOVE him!"_ Alicia sobbed.

G2 blinked.

"Excuse me?" She said as her robotic way of thinking slowly processed exactly what Alicia was saying, "You _love_ my husband?"

"I've been seeing him for five years! I never stopped!" She said tearfully, "You don't know what its like for me, being locked up in here; I can't even be at his side! I love him, he loves me, he comes to see me _all _the time!"

G2 took in a sharp breath and almost dropped the phone.

"No...no that's not true..."

"_Yes it is!"_ Alicia insisted, "Don't pretend you and him have this great passionate life together, I know all that stopped when you were pregnant! It doesn't matter; he makes love to me, he holds me, he said he loves me and I believe him and I _want _to _see _him!"

Her words had stunned her into silence for a moment as G2 thought about how tired she had been while she was pregnant, how tired she had still been after the birth too... _and all the time, Gadget had been going to Alicia? While she was in jail in Riverton Prison?_

The hardest part to take in was still revolving around in her mind as she spoke again.

"You've been seeing my husband for _five years?_"

Penny had been sitting beside Gadget's bed and she looked up sharply, staring at G2..._Gadget had been seeing Alicia behind G2's back? _

She looked back at her Uncle Gadget and wondered why he would do that, he had always seemed so happy with G2...

"I have nothing more to say to you." G2 said, and she put the phone down.

Then she put her hand to her mouth and stifled a sob as she looked at Gadget, hooked up to life support.

"Why did you do this to me?" She said to him as he lay there unconscious, "You deceived me for _five_ years? "

And as she shed tears she turned away from his bed.

"_I can't take this in..."_

Penny got up and put her arm around her.

"Maybe she's lying."

But as she spoke she knew she was just clutching at straws to try and salvage the situation; one look in G2's eyes told her Alicia had been telling the truth.

"No Penny," She said tearfully, "She's got no reason to lie. We're bringing up Grace for her; she might even get access to her soon if she gets released. Grace might even be staying with her at weekends, Gadget said..."

Then hurt and anger clouded her eyes as she recalled a conversation they'd had a while back, around the time they had explained to Grace about her _real_ Mommy...

"_Gadget said he wanted Alicia to be reunited with Grace! He even said he would understand if she wanted to go and live with her! Now I understand...Oh Penny, he's been using me!"_

"No!" Penny said at once, "He's _not_ like that, G2! You know what he's like, he probably just got into a mess with you and her and he couldn't get himself out of it. I know for sure he'd _never_ deliberately hurt anyone he loves and you know that too!"

G2 fell silent for a moment and then she looked back at Gadget, and she made her decision.

"I can't leave him, not when he's like this." She told her, "But when he's better, when I know for sure he's going to recover, I'll talk to him about this matter and explain why it's over."

Penny stared at her.

"You can't leave him! It's not fair, what about the kids?"

"He can still see his kids."

"G2, he's hurt! You heard what Lula said, he could _die!_ Don't even _think_ about walking away now, how would you feel if we lost him tomorrow?"

"Just as heartbroken as I feel today." She said tearfully as she wiped her eyes.

She thought about it again.

"_Five years, Penny! He's been deceiving me for five years!"_

Then she picked up her coat.

"I need to get out of here for a while. I'm going home to Alice and Grace. I'll come back tomorrow, I meant what I said – I won't turn my back on him. Should I tell Max you'll be home later on?"

Penny didn't have to think about her answer.

"No." She said quietly as she sat down at Gadget's bedside once more, "He needs someone with him. Tell Max to look after our son, tell him my Uncle Gadget needs me. Tell him I'll call him in the morning."

G2 nodded.

"I'll do that." She said quietly, then she looked back at Gadget, then looked away again and walked out of the room, closing the door behind her.

* * *

Across town, in the front room of Taylor Braydon's mansion, he sat reading the newspaper with his eyes wide as he took in the story about the bombing.

"It's a good thing we never got an invitation the party!" He exclaimed, "We could have been killed!"

Delia rolled her eyes on hearing that remark.

"You are Mayor Wilson's rival. _Why_ would she want you at her party for her supporters?"

He shrugged.

"I just thought an invite might have been nice..."

And then he carried on reading for a few minutes, then he looked up at his wife, who sat on a couch beside the fireplace toying with a glass of wine that had been in her hand for the last half an hour.

"I can't believe it, that's such a terrible thing to happen! A _bomb_ in Riverton?" He said, "That could look really bad for Mayor Wilson's election campaign, she's always saying how safe this town is."

"_I know."_ Delia said quietly as she ran her finger around the rim of the glass feeling sick to the pit of her stomach.

Taylor spoke again.

"_Fourteen people got killed!"_

I know that too." She said in a hushed voice.

"And I feel really bad about Inspector Gadget," Taylor was saying, "To think we tried to blackmail him- I wish you hadn't done it now. He's a nice guy and he didn't deserve what he's going through. It says here that he's critical, he's on life support. They don't know if he's going to make it. And he's got kids too...those kids might lose their Daddy."

Delia took in a shaken breath and finally took a sip of wine as she tried to block out the thought that she had blood on her hands:

_It wasn't supposed to happen the way it did._

_It was supposed to cause a few sparks, maybe shake some plaster loose or blow out a couple of windows. _

_Sure, a few people might have got minor injuries..._

_But it hadn't happened that way._

_She had packed too much explosive without realizing it, she had gone from playing a very dirty trick to undermine the Mayor's claims that Riverton was a safe town and crossed the line, without even knowing it, into becoming a mass murderer...  
_

_She just hoped that the anonymous message she had given to Riverton Police, blaming the former anti cyborg movement the ACR would cover her tracks...  
_

"I hope they catch the bastard who did this." Taylor said, then he thought about it and made a decision.

"I'm calling the newspaper."

She stared at him, wondering for a second if his dim wits had some how worked out that she was guilty.

"What for?"

"I'm going to put up a one million dollar reward for information leading to the capture of the Riverton Bomber!" He announced.

Delia's hand shook as she forced a nervous smile.

"Right, I see...good for you, darling. You do that..."

And Delia swallowed down the rest of the wine, suddenly desperate to pour herself a second glass.

But Taylor hadn't noticed, just like he never noticed_ anything_ that went on right under his nose.

He just picked up the phone and made the call, offering a reward to catch the Riverton Bomber...

* * *

Gadget was breathing slow and even, the regulator was still working perfectly and as Penny gently touched his arm she breathed a sigh of relief to know for sure that right now, he was stable.

"Why did you get in such a mess?" She wondered aloud, "I remember when I was a teenager, you were so happy when you met G2. But I guess it was a long time ago and a lot has happened since. _Why_ didn't you tell me about Alicia?"

And Gadget remained motionless and deeply unconscious.

Penny gave a sigh.

"It's been a long time since I was a girl." She said, "I've been a woman _many_ years now. You could have come to me for advice – I'm not sure when it happened, but I went from thinking of you as Uncle Gadget to thinking of you as my best friend. I think it happened around the time I turned eighteen. I could have told you anything, anything at all..."

And then Penny fell silent, thinking about how maybe she couldn't tell him absolutely anything, not with the secrets she had locked up so tightly that even she did not want to open the door and let them out, the secrets held silent by her own heart because she could not begin to think about the things she could never possess...

"I never really felt like you were _real_ my Uncle." She said quietly, _"There I was, this teenage girl needing a hero - and there you you were, this amazing cyborg man with gadgets!_ And everyone said you were such a hero when Riverton became crime free. I looked up to you so much. It wasn't such a big shock when you told me you were adopted. I think I've always thought of you as first my protector and then later on my closest friend. We were like a real family after you married G2, but ..._my_ _friend_; you've _always_ been my friend. That's how I see you now, the one person who knows me, who I can trust, who I can turn to..."

Penny's eyes filled with tears as she gently clasped his hand.

"_Don't you die."_ She said tearfully, "If you die you take my heart with you and I'm not even thirty yet I'll have a _long_ time to live in misery without it. Just don't die. I need to know you're still in the world otherwise there will be a gaping black hole in _my_ world and you won't even know that..."

And she gave a quiet sob as tears ran down her face.

"_I need you stay alive."_ She whispered as she wept, _"I need to see your smile light up my day; I need to know you're still here. Because I cant imagine the world going on the same and you not being a part of it."_

Then Lula came back into the room and Penny straightened up in her chair and wiped her eyes.

"Penny," She said, "We've been getting flowers sent in for Gadget, from all over Riverton. I'm going to have some of them brought in here but not all, there's not enough room!"

And as a couple of staff members came in, fetching bouquets and baskets and vases filled with so many bright flowers it seemed as if the room had suddenly come alive with color, Penny stared at her.

"There's no room for the rest?" She wondered.

Lula led her over to the window.

"We have to keep clearing the entrance; people have been coming all morning."

Penny looked out of the window and what she saw made her smile; her only regret was that Gadget could not wake up to see this:

_Bouquets were piled up on the steps, over by the parking lot entrance; more flowers had been tied to the fence. On the ground candles flickered in holders. Notes were left there too, tied up as ribbons fluttered in the breeze._

Suddenly Penny's sadness at the trouble his tangled love life had got him into left her.

"Half of Riverton are leaving him flowers." She said, "I can't believe how many tributes there are!"

Lula smiled too.

_"He's the great Inspector Gadget,"_ She told her, _"Riverton's hero. Everyone is praying for him."_

Then Lula checked the equipment around his bed and left the room once more.

Penny looked down at the sea of flowers and the gifts left by Riverton residents and then she went back over to Gadgets bed and sat beside him.

She took hold of his hand and spoke softly.

" You would not believe how many people have been sending you flowers! Everyone loves you, Uncle Gadget!"

She leaned a little closer and stroked the undamaged side of his face, but he gave no response.

"_Everyone loves you."_ She said again quietly.

* * *

The days passed and Gadget's condition remained unchanged.

Penny and G2 took turns sitting for hours at a time his bedside hoping he would show signs of recovery, but he did not. The flowers and gifts kept coming, one day on her way out of the hospital Penny had pulled up in her car and stopped to watch as people laid flowers, left cards and lit candles.

"_Thank you so much."_ She told them, _"This will mean a lot to Gadget when he wakes up."_

Then she had driven home, leaving G2 at the hospital.

Penny had gone straight home – not her home, to Gadget's house, because Max had been staying there with G2 and the kids ever since the night of the explosion.

He had given her a weary look, told her Maxie and Grace were at school and Alice was sleeping because she'd just had her feed.

Then he had sunk down exhausted into a soft armchair that Gadget usually sat in and given a heavy sigh.

"So he's not showing any signs of recovery yet?" He wondered.

Penny shook her head.

She sat down on the sofa and looked at her husband.

"I'm grateful, Max. You've taken time off work for me, looking after the kids...it means a lot."

Max thought about his own problems and decided he had to air them now, before he found himself out of a job.

"Penny, my boss is very understanding about this but I will _have_ to go back to work soon!"

She looked at him sharply

"No!" She said, "You can't do that while my Uncle Gadget's critical! I need you here for Maxie; it wouldn't be fair to expect G2 to look after my son, Grace _and_ her baby at a time like this! "

And Penny shook her head.

"I can't believe you'd put work before a family crisis! _My Uncle could die!_"

Her words stung him and as he made a move to speak he was well aware he was about to cross thorny ground that was too familiar by now; _Gadget always came first with Penny..._

"But Penny, you need to think about our family too. I hardly ever see you. Maxie hardly ever sees you!"

Penny stared at him.

"Well I don't think it would be fair for Maxie to walk in that room and see his Uncle Gadget barely alive with half his face missing hooked up to a life support machine!"

Max gave another sigh.

"That's not what I mean." He said as his voice hardened, "You've always been the same- it's everything _your_ way, Penny! _And Gadget always comes first! _Sometimes I feel like I'm competing with him for your attention."

Those words gave her a jolt but she refused to show it and shrugged it off.

"That's not fair, Max! And you can always use up your vacation time, you've got three weeks you were saving for the summer."

Max looked back at her in disbelief.

"That was supposed to be _our_ family vacation time, Penny! You know, you me and our son, three weeks together on the beach –"

"So use it now." She said, "We can have other vacations. But Gadget may not have long to live."

Max looked at her resentfully.

"And what about you, Penny? You've got your job to think of too!"

Penny shrugged.

"_I quit yesterday."_

Max stared at his wife.

"_You did what?"_

"I quit." She told him, "I've been part time for a while, what with bringing up Maxie. It won't do me any harm- I can help Gadget get better and then I'll find another job."

Max was still staring at his wife.

"I can't do this." He said, "It's gone _too far_, Penny! I've had years of you trying to make me get cyborg modifications just because you want me to be like _him_, to be like your crime fighter uncle! I'm glad I said no - I'm _really_ glad! He's _always_ going to come first, isn't he? Where does that leave you and me? This is the _last_ time, Penny. I'll give up the vacation time but after that, even if he's still critical, I'm going back to work. And if you carry on more or less living at the hospital to be with him and I don't see you, I'm walking away and I mean it this time! _I've had enough of being second best, I'm your husband!_"

Then Max got up and left the room, slamming the door behind him.

Penny thought about all he had said and took a deep breath; quarrels over her spending too much time with Gadget were nothing new, but this time, it had really pushed things close to breaking point.

But even as she thought about his ultimatum, there was no doubt in her mind; she knew where she needed to be - simply because she knew that Gadget, in the danger he was in right now, needed her by his side- and she would not, she _could not,_ choose to be anywhere else at a time like this...

* * *

G2 was at Gadget's bedside when there was a tap on the door and Chief Quimby came into the room.

He went in quietly and shut the door behind him, fixing his gaze on Gadget, who was lying still and unresponsive while the covers were folded down to his hips and a cable ran beneath the plate that covered his abdominal wound.

He stepped closer to the bed and looked at the metal that partially covered the damaged side of his face.

"Is there any change?" He wondered.

G2 shook her head.

"Before he had the crisis with the thermostat he woke up. He asked for you."

Quimby nodded his head.

"I'm sure he did. He was keen to speak for Alicia Mackenzie at her parole hearing..."

And he paused, trying to gauge her reaction.

He got the reaction he needed to see as he noticed the look in her eyes; _she knew..._

"I had a call from Alicia." G2 said bitterly, "She told me she needed to know how he was, because she's been his _mistress_ for the last five years!"

Quimby said nothing as he looked at Gadget wondering how he could have lied to him for so long – he could still remember that day so long ago when he had sworn he would keep away and have no more contact with her... but at least Alicia's story added up now.

He gave a sigh.

"I'm so sorry for your troubles." He said to her, "I'm sure Gadget didn't mean this, didn't mean to set out to hurt anyone. I know he can be clumsy, he can wreck things...but I never thought he'd do it to his own marriage. _He can hardly blame this on a glitch, can he!_"

"I guess not." G2 said quietly as she looked at her husband and wished again that he would show some kind of sign of life, even the smallest movement behind his closed eyes- but she saw none.

"There's a memorial service for the victims of the bombing, it's at Riverton Cathedral on Friday." The Chief informed her, "Obviously Gadget won't be able to attend, so I was wondering if you or Penny could come along instead?"

G2 nodded.

"I'll certainly come. I don't know about Penny, she might want to be here with Gadget. But I know she would probably reason that Gadget would want her to go, especially as he can't be there. I'll talk to her about it."

"Thanks." The Chief said, then he took a step closer to Gadget's bed and reached out, for a moment his hand hovered over Gadget's arm and then he gave it a gentle pat.

"_Keep fighting, Gadget."_ He said in a low voice, _"We're all thinking of you."_

Then he stepped back and took a deep breath, pushing back a brief flicker of emotion and becoming the Chief again, the man who had to get on with this job.

" I'd better get back to Headquarters. I'll see you later on, G2. And I hope Gadget improves very soon."

"Thank you." She replied, and then Quimby left the room.

G2 looked down at her unconscious husband, yet as the machines worked for him to keep him alive, she knew she could feel no anger over his affair with Alicia - _not now, not like this..._

"You must survive." She said to him quietly, "The Chief is right – you _have_ to keep fighting."

And then, despite knowing all she did about Gadget and Alicia and still being firm in her decision that their marriage would end once he was recovering, she pushed all that aside and leaned over him, kissing the undamaged side of his face.

"_You have to fight."_ She repeated, "You _have_ to live, Gadget..."


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

_It was the day of the memorial service at Riverton Cathedral._

By now some of the funeral services for the victims had already taken place, and those victims were very much on the minds of all the people who gathered at the cathedral for the service.

Penny sat down the front row beside Max, and their son sat next to his father.

She leaned over and looked at her son.

"Are you sure you want to be here for this?" She wondered.

Maxie, who was now almost six years old, nodded.

"I want to say a prayer for my Uncle Gadget." He said sadly, and Penny felt like crying all over again.

G2 was sat beside her with Alice in her arms and Grace next to her and further along sat the Mayor and her husband, and Chief and Mrs Quimby.

Penny glanced behind her and looked back at the sea of faces that had filled the cathedral; so many people had turned up for this service, every one of them dressed in black.

She ran her hands down her own black dress and thought again about how many people had died.

_Then her thoughts turned back to Gadget, still holding onto life..._

She thought about Gadget and wished she could be with him; today was the day Lula was planning to take him off the regulator to see if his own thermostat would work again, but she had assured her she could easily reconnect the external machine at the flick of a switch if he couldn't handle it...

_Lula had said he was getting a little stronger._

_But maybe not strong enough to wake up yet. _

_There were still no guarantees; nothing at all was certain..._

Penny looked up at the tall ceiling, then around the room at the stained glass windows.

This place smelled of age and faith as old as time.

Her eyes shifted to the cross high up on the wall and she recalled seeing the reports on the news, rows of coffins being brought out of here after the first of the funeral services for the dead.

The organ began to play as the priest got ready to start the service.

The music seemed to fill every corner of the room.

Penny was still thinking about those coffins, about how easily life could be snatched away in a split second:

_Every one of those people who had died had not planned to die._

_They had lives they were getting on with, and in the middle of it a bomb had stopped everything._

_She thought about the coffins again, about the lives lost that could never be replaced:_

_People could be gone in a heartbeat, leaving behind them loved ones, kisses never given, words unsaid, promises never made, life unlived, cancelled out..._

_Everything gone in a second._

Penny blinked as her eyes stung with tears and she grabbed hold of a hymn book and tried to focus on it.

But those thoughts were still there and a door she had long decided to keep closed had just swung open and she could not close that door in her mind no matter how hard she tried:

_Was it opening up like Pandora's box?_

_No._

_It was something beautiful and terrifying, something so great she had never known the force of it before but now she could not fight against any longer..._

It was precious, bigger than this world, bigger than life itself; it was something that she had long been running from because nothing could take her over like this feeling if she allowed it, if she let it cover her, hoping it would not consume her:

_The truth._

Penny thought again about the coffins, about those who were gone.

_Then she saw him, lying there in that room, the machines keeping him alive..._

It wasn't too late, Gadget was still alive, Gadget _wasn't _gone - and suddenly the distance between this place and that room where he fought for his life seemed to stretch like a thousand miles:

_Far too far away._

Penny knew where she had to be, because she knew what she needed to say before it was too late, because she...

_Because she had to be with him._

_Because life was precious._

_Because nothing could go unsaid._

_Because she knew it, she knew it now and she couldn't change it_.

There it was - there was the truth:

_She loved him._

Penny took a sharp breath but no air reached her lungs as the hymn book slipped from her grasp.

G2 looked around at her, so did Max.

"Penny?" Her husband asked her, "What's wrong?"

She dragged in half a breath.

Her heart was racing and still it seemed there was no air in this room, there would be no air outside either:

No air again, she would not breathe again until she was back in that room, at Gadget's bedside where she needed to be.

"_I can't bre...breathe!" _She gasped.

Then she got up, quickly pushing past people seated near the end of the row, and she ran up the side of the aisle, heading for the doors.

* * *

Max told his son to wait with G2 and then he hurried out of the cathedral, as he ran down the steps he caught up with Penny just as she got to the Gadget Mobile.

"I _have_ to get there!" She said tearfully, "I need to be with Gadget!"

She was crying and shaking and Max got into the car with her.

"Okay, I'll come with you; I'll make sure you drive safely."

They were both in the car now, and the car had woken up.

"_I'm_ driving!" Gadget Mobile said, "Penny, you want to see Gadget?"

She nodded and wiped her eyes.

"I want to see him right now! I just want to see him!"

"Okay let's go!" The car said, and the engine fired up and the Gadget Mobile drove way at speed from Riverton Cathedral.

* * *

When they reached the cybernetics building at the back of Riverton Hospital, Max got out of the car at the same time as Penny.

_"Wait!"_

She turned back and looked at him.

"Max, just go back to the service. I need to be here for Gadget, he's coming off the regulator today and I just want to sit with him."

The look in Max's eyes softened.

"And I just want to know my _wife_ is okay."

"I just want to sit with my Uncle Gadget." She said again, "Go back to the cathedral, Max. I can't come with you – someone needs to be here for him, I have to do this."

Max gave a sigh.

"I'll wait in the car." He said, resigned to the fact that Penny had decided to throw everything up in the air for her Uncle gadget all over again, even on a day like this...

"Just go back to the cathedral, we don't need to _both_ be here." She said to him, glancing at the entrance and feeling an ache in her heart as she could think of nothing else but being at Gadget's bedside.

Max got in the car, closing the door with a slam.

"Hey watch my paint job!" The car said.

"Sorry!" Max said quickly, then he looked back at his wife.

"I'll wait here for twenty minutes. If you don't come back out I'll go back to the service without you, okay?"

"I won't be back out. I'm staying with him; I don't want him to be alone." She told him, and then she turned and walked through the entrance to the cybernetics building.

Max leaned back in the car seat and gave a heavy sigh.

""You should get back to the service right now." Gadget Mobile said to Max, "I _know_ Penny. She's worried about G Man, she won't be coming out of there for a _long_ time!"

But Max just sat there and checked the time.

"No," He said,"I'll wait for her, she might change her mind."

"I think you're in for a _long_ wait." The car remarked.

"Maybe." Max replied, as he sat there and wondered if Penny would change her mind once she had checked on Gadget...

* * *

By the time Penny had reached his room, she had calmed down a little.

She had calmed down enough to wipe her eyes and get her breath back and all she wanted to do was see him, to be at his side, because she couldn't leave things unsaid, not now, not when she knew how precious time was, how uncertain and short life could be...

_"Penny?"_

She had just be about to reach for the door to Gadget's room when she heard Lula's voice.

Penny stopped where stood and turned around.

"How is he?" She asked her.

Lula told her the good news right away.

"I took Gadget off the regulator this morning." She told her, "And he's coping just fine. His own thermostat is taking over and working well. He might seem a little bit feverish at first, but that will settle down in the next twenty four hours. He's functioning well enough to maintain his own body temperature and it's getting back to normal. He's disconnected from the separate control system now. It's looking very encouraging."

Penny gave a sigh of relief.

"Is he awake yet?"

"No." Lula told her, "I still don't know when he will regain consciousness."

"But this is a good sign, right?"

Lula nodded.

"I can't say for sure he's out of the woods yet - but yes, it's a _very_ good sign."

"Thank you." Penny said, feeling relieved to know things were looking up at last, then she walked into his room and closed the door behind her.

As she went over to his bed, Penny smiled.

Gadget seemed so much better now, almost as if he was merely sleeping instead of unconscious.

She sat beside him and ran her hand over his dark hair, it was damp because his skin was warm and he was sweating slightly.

"I know you're too hot." She said quietly, "Lula said that's because your own temperature control is working again and it's going to take a little while to get back to normal."

But Gadget just remained motionless and gave no response as a trickle of sweat ran down his face.

Penny folded back one of the sheets leaving only a thinner one covering him and then sat down on the bed on the other side of the room.

She took a notepad and a pen from her purse and looked at Gadget as he lay there motionless, then she thought about all the things that she wanted to say.

She wrote it all down, telling herself these were the words she would say aloud to him while he was unconscious. He could not hear her, he would not remember when he woke – but perhaps, on some level, his heart would know those words had been said.

As she wrote everything down a sudden thought crossed her mind that if he didn't recover, this would be the letter she would put into his coffin on the day of his funeral - and that possibility came too sharply to mind as the pen scratched at the paper, popping a hole through it.

Penny took a deep breath and remembered Lula had said the signs were good now, and she carefully finished the letter.

Then she tore out the page and folded it in half and sat next to Gadget's bed again.

"There are some things I need to say to you." She said softly, "I need to say them now, this is the _only_ time I can say them. I have to do this because I'm afraid if I lose you this will go unsaid and I will carry that regret until the day I die too."

Then she looked at his face, saw no movement from him, watched as his chest rose and fell as his skin shone with perspiration, and then Penny unfolded the paper and in a quiet voice, began to read:

'_I have loved you from the day we first met. At first I loved you as my guardian and protector, my hero Uncle Gadget who saved me from Claw and kept this town free of crime. Then later on as I grew up I loved you as my best friend, I came to love so much more about you because I noticed so much more when I became a woman and I looked at you through a woman's eyes. You are the best friend I cherish, your smile lights up my world and when you laugh I laugh with you and when you cry I share your tears. _

_I even love your silly glitches! There is no one else like you in this world, Gadget. And I will never know another man like you, even though I searched for you in every man I ever met – I even searched for you in my husband but I found no trace of you. I know now; I love you. I have loved you as the amazing man you are since before I even met Max._

_I was around twenty when I looked at you through older eyes and when you turned to me in the Gadget mobile and said something – I can't remember what it was, but you made me laugh and you laughed too and I saw your eyes light up and we carried on down that road and I looked back at you and that was when I knew how deep in my heart you were. I never thought about it or considered the possibility that I could be in love with you because I didn't know the truth back then – but I do now, I know you are not related to me. I know it is okay for me to admit to myself that I love you._

_But I can never tell you that because I know you will not return my feelings. When I was a little girl I used to read Cinderella and dream about one day meeting my prince- but then I grew up and I found out there are no princes, dreams do not come true and that is just the way life is because life is like that, life is unfair._

_But I do love you, Gadget. I love you with all my heart.'_

And then Penny folded the letter and put it in her pocket, before standing up and leaning over Gadget.

"I love you." She whispered again, and gently kissed his cheek as he slept on.

* * *

Just as Penny kissed Gadget's cheek and then sat down beside him once more, her husband Max, who had been watching from the doorway, now regretted ever quietly turning the handle intending to come in softly, because Penny had been talking to Gadget, sitting at his bedside with her back turned to the doorway.

She had not known he was there and he had heard every single word as she read it out, spelling out just how much he meant to her, how devoted she was to him and when he realized that love she spoke of went so deeply he let go of the door, turned away and walked a few paces until he turned the corner of the corridor, then he put his hand to his mouth and tried to hold back a sob as tears stung his eyes:

_It had always been about Gadget._

_He had always come first, now he knew why._

_Gadget wasn't her Uncle, not really._

_And Penny had looked at him one day when she was a grown woman and known just how deep her devotion to him truly went..._

_But she hadn't told him until now, when it was too late, after he had been caught up in the explosion._

Knowing Penny had kept this secret made no difference to Max and how he felt at all:

He could only think of all the times Gadget had been put first, at the top of her list of priorities, and how Penny had asked him repeatedly to consider having cyborg implants because she liked that in a guy...

_It all made sense now._

_She didn't want him, she never had, not really._

Gadget was the man she would always love deep down her heart and it didn't even matter that he didn't know it – it mattered to Max, because to him this spelled out the writing on the wall that he had only just noticed, the writing he should have seen long, long ago:

_Penny didn't love him, not as much as he thought she did._

_He thought about the situation, then he thought how they had been far from happy for a long time._

_This was nothing he cared to share with anyone else; Penny was in love with a man who would never return her feelings—in a way, he pitied her for that._

_But he certainly didn't love her enough to stay around and play substitute for the man whose name was really engraved on her heart..._

"_It's over."_ He said quietly as he pulled off his wedding ring and slipped it into his pocket.

_Then he pushed aside thoughts of facing Penny and telling he wanted to end their marriage, because right now there was a memorial service at Riverton cathedral and he wanted to be there, not only to pay his respects to the dead but because it seemed a fitting place to be today, right now, on the day he realised his marriage was also dead..._

* * *

Penny was still sitting beside Gadget.

He breathed a little heavier and his head turned slightly. She looked at his face, one side half covered by the shiny metal that moulded to his skin.

_"It's not forever."_ She said quietly as she cautiously touched the face plate and found to her surprise that the living metal was also perspiring as tiny beads of sweat seeped through it just in the same way as sweat made the rest of his skin glisten.

"Are you too hot? That wont last, you're just getting back to normal, Lula told me that, she said you're getting better."

Penny took a sponge and dipped it in a bowl of water next to the bed, carefully squeezing it out before she gently swept it over the undamaged part of his face and then bathed his throat and shoulders.

He gave a sigh and turned his head slightly again.

Penny put the sponge down again, looking intently at him: _This was the most he had moved in two weeks..._

"Gadget?" She said softly, "Can you hear me?"

Gadget gave another sigh and then, to Penny's joy, his blue eyes slowly opened.

He looked up at her and smiled.

"_Hi Penny." _He whispered.

She blinked back tears as she smiled back at him.

"Welcome back Uncle Gadget," She said, "I've been _so_ worried – we all have!"

And then she gently hugged him, sobbing with relief as Gadget weakly raised his hand and rested it on her back, wishing he had more strength to console her, because Penny was crying as she held him, saying over and over, she thought she had lost him...

_"No, I'm okay."_ He said in a weak voice, _"Shh...Don't cry, Penny..."_

And Penny let go of him, wiping her eyes as she sat down again and clasped his hand tightly.

"You don't know how bad things got!" She exclaimed, "Lula said we could have lost you!"

Gadget blinked as he began to feel more alert, then he checked for the message at the back of his vision but saw nothing.

"Did she disconnect my gadget mode?"

"She had to, you were in pain after the explosion and she couldn't risk you getting a glitch while she was treating you."

Gadget vaguely recalled waking up in this room before, feeling as numb as he did now – except that back then he had felt ice cold and now he felt slightly too warm.

"She cut my cybernetic spinal cable." He remembered.

Then his eyes grew wider as he thought about it.

"I must have sustained _severe_ damage for her to do that!"

Penny thought about the first time she had seen him after the explosion and she nodded.

"You were badly hurt." She told him, "And a _lot_ of pain too."

It was still blurry, the memories were coming back now but he had to think about them, sort out the hazy pictures in his mind.

"That makes sense." Gadget said, wishing he could sit up but finding movement impossible because he was too weak and could feel nothing of his body below his chest, "That's standard procedure if a cyborg sustains severe damage. It's a quick way to cut off pain signals."

Then fear flickered in his eyes as he looked at Penny.

"What's happened to me?"

Penny hesitated and Gadget gripped her hand tighter.

"Penny, _please!_ How bad is it?"

"You got a stomach injury." She told him, "Lula's patched it up and that's why the metal plate's there. It can come off in around ten weeks. And..."

She hesitated again; he knew nothing of his facial injury yet...

"You have a small metal plate over the right side of your face too but it's nothing to worry about. Lula said it can come off when the skin's grown back and she said you won't even have a scar."

Gadget reached up and cautiously touched the thin layer of metal that covered part of his face.

"At least it's not forever." He said, but sounded far from happy about it.

The he caught the look in Penny's eyes and knew at once there was more.

"What _else?_" He said quietly.

Penny drew the sheet down a fraction and showed him the valve on the metal plate that ran across the middle of his body.

"You can't eat until your stomach heals. You have to take fluid through a tube once a day."

Gadget gave a heavy sigh.

"I can't even eat?"

"Its not forever." She said again, "Lula said it takes three months for everything to heal and then you'll be good as new."

"Three months is a long time." He said sadly.

Then he thought about the cause of his injuries and his self pity vanished.

"Did everyone get out? Did they _all_ get out before the bomb went off, Penny?"

She held his hand tighter, knowing he would not take this news well: Gadget had wanted to save everyone; it was going to be hard to take in that people had died...

"There were five hundred people at that party. You got everyone out of the ballroom. When the bomb went off most of them got to safety in time."

_"Most?"_ Gadget repeated in a hushed voice.

"Fourteen people were killed. But it could have been many more, you saved _hundreds_ of lives –"

Gadget's eyes filled with tears.

"_That's fourteen too many! I wanted to save everyone..."_

Penny reached out and wiped his tears away.

"You couldn't have done that! What you did was amazing, no one could have done more. Everyone in Riverton thinks you're a hero. People have been leaving flowers for you, cards, they've been lighting candles! I've been saving the newspapers to show you what's been written about you. I'll bring them here tomorrow and you can see for yourself. Uncle Gadget, you're a _hero!_"

"No I'm not." He said as he recalled the moment he'd pulled back the curtain and seen the black box and the timer counting down to zero, "There's a bomber out there and I have to find them, I have to stop them before they do this again!"

Gadget looked around, found the button and pressed it.

"I'm calling Lula, I want her to fuse my spine back together. I need to get out of here –"

And then he stopped, giving a sigh of frustration as the bed raised up a little, moving him to a sitting position.

"Wrong button" Penny said, pressing the button on the wall instead.

* * *

As Lula came into the room and saw Gadget wide awake and sitting up, her eyes lit up with relief.

"Oh thank God!" She exclaimed, giving him a hug.

But Gadget quickly let her go.

"I need to get out of here." Gadget said urgently, "Fix my spinal cable, I've got a bomber to catch!"

"No, I can't do that." She said to him, "Not yet. You can't have the reconnection for at _least_ another seven days –"

"_Seven days?"_ He exclaimed, _"Lula, there's a maniac out there! The Riverton bomber just caused more carnage in one night that Doctor Claw did in the whole of his career! I need to be out there!"_

Lula gave a sigh; it was great to see Gadget getting back to his usual self again after everything he had been through, but he just didn't understand how weak he was...

"Gadget," She said, "Just _listen_ to me –"

"No Lula, _you _listen –"

"_No!"_ Lula said firmly, remembering long ago how Gadget had never let her get a word in when she had been trying to tell him she was pregnant with Emily; she wasn't about to let him take over the conversation again, not at a time like this...

"_Listen to me!"_ She told him, "I _can't_ reconnect your spine until the stomach graft has been in place for another seven days. If I did you wouldn't be able to take the fluid when I connect the feeding tube - it would be too painful! Even three weeks is early to give you full function back, you'll be in a considerable amount of pain for several days afterwards and the feeding tube will hurt your stomach to a noticeable degree for at least another two weeks after that, until the graft gets stronger. You can't just walk out of here and assume you'll be back to normal right away! You were almost _killed_ in that explosion two weeks ago, Gadget!"

He stared at her.

_"It was two weeks ago?"_

Lula explained everything.

"You had severe blast injuries. I had to operate at the scene of the explosion just to get you stable. Then your thermostat crashed and you almost froze to death and we had to put you on a separate manual regulator. You came off it today."

Gadget fell silent as he took in all she had said.

Then he became tearful as he looked at Penny.

"_I'm really in a mess..."_

She held onto his hand, reassuring him at once.

"No, you're getting better!" She promised him, "And Lula said in seven days you can have the cable fused again_, then_ you can think about catching the bomber."

"Then he can think about going home and resting until the graft repairs the rip in his stomach!" Lula corrected her.

Gadget shook his head.

"I _can't_ rest, I don't have time!"

"You _have_ to." She told him, "But maybe you can work from home on the case until you're stronger. You won't be able to go back to work right away, you'll need someone to look after you for at least two more weeks."

Penny gave his hand a squeeze.

"I can help you with the case."

Gadget smiled kindly.

"Penny," He told her, "I used to say it when you were a teenager and I'll say it now you're a grown woman – _I'm_ the crime fighter around here, you're _not_ a detective!"

And Penny smiled.

"I know that. But maybe I can help you out. I can look after you while you're solving the case."

Then Gadget thought about home.

"I'd better call G2."

Penny's smile vanished as she hoped G2 would be able to hold back from angrily confronting him about Alicia; he was rapidly improving now and she didn't want him to have any kind of stress, even though she understood why G2 was angry with him over his affair...

"I'll call her." She promised him, "You just lay back and take it easy, Uncle Gadget. Let _me_ call G2."

And Penny left the room.

Gadget looked at Lula, who had a big smile on her face.

"It's good to have you back." She said warmly.

"Thanks." Gadget replied, "But I don't even feel like I've been away."

Then he caught a flicker of sadness in her eyes that said she had been through hell while his life had been in the balance.

"You _have_ been away." She said quietly, "So far away I thought I _couldn't_ bring you back."

And she blinked away tears and gave him another hug.

As she let go she had an idea.

"Do you feel well enough to see Emily? I could bring her to see you later on."

Gadget's face lit up with a smile as he thought of his daughter.

"I'd _love_ to see her!" He said warmly, "Yes, bring her in later on. And maybe G2 can bring Grace. I really need to hug my kids."

"They've been worried about you." Lula told him, "G2 said Grace has been very upset. It was a bit easier for Emily because I was able to explain what was happening with you. She's very interested in cybernetics; I think it helped her to know the facts."

Then Gadget frowned as he ran his hand over the metal that partly covered the right side of his face.

"I won't scare my kids looking like this, will I?"

Lula shook her head.

They'll get used to it- you're still their Daddy!"

Then she smiled again.

"I'll be back to check on you later."

And then Lula left the room.

* * *

Gadget sat in bed still thinking about his kids and wondering if the mask would frighten them, then he had no more time to worry because Penny came back into the room again.

"I just called G2." She told him, "She's so happy you're awake and she said she's coming over to see you and she's bringing Grace and Alice too."

As she said that Gadget asked her the same question he'd just asked Lula.

"Do you think the kids will be scared because of my face?"

"No!" Penny said at once, "Of course not!"

And then she sat beside him and as she took hold of his hand once more, the last of his worries melted away and he felt instantly reassured.

Then Penny thought about the moments before he had woken up and the letter containing her confession seemed to be burning in her pocket.

"I was sitting with you before you woke up." She told him, "Did you know I was here?"

Gadget smiled.

"Sure I did, I heard you saying I was too hot and then you cooled me off. It really woke me up, it made me feel a lot better."

_"Nothing else?"_ Penny wondered.

Gadget thought about it and shook his head.

"No, I don't think so, I was asleep. Why, did I miss something?"

Penny smiled back at him.

"_No."_ She replied, then she gave his hand a squeeze and stayed beside him, waiting for G2 and the kids to arrive.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

Penny was standing by the open door to Gadget's room.

She smiled as she looked in and saw G2 talking to him at his bedside while she held Alice in her arms and Grace and Emily sat on the edge of their father's bed.

Penny was relieved G2 had been so calm about everything she had learned since the explosion; she wasn't about to start yelling at him about his affair with Alicia- she had promised her she would not even discuss the matter with him until he was much stronger.

She decided she ought to go home soon, because Max was probably missing her.

Then she saw Chief Quimby walking up the corridor.

For once, he had a smile on his face.

"I got the news." He told her, glancing into Gadget's room and seeing that his family were with him, "It's a huge relief to know that Gadget's on the mend."

"I'm sure it would be okay if you went in to see him." Penny suggested.

Quimby thought about everything he had uncovered and he nodded.

"Yes, I need to talk to him about the bombing. Forensics have made progress. He'll want to hear all about that."

And the Chief walked into Gadget's room, pushing away the thought that he had lied to him about Alicia for five years; all he cared about at this moment was that the man who he often yelled at – a little_ too_ much – _and_ who often messed up with his glitches, was Riverton's finest crime fighter and also, at this moment, he thought of him as a friend, and he was so thankful that friend was still alive and out of danger now.

"Gadget." He said," Its good to have you back."

Gadget was sitting up leaning against pillows and the valve in his body plate had been opened so a tube could be fixed to it. Amber liquid was going in, feeding his human and robotic parts all at once, but the cut to his spinal cable meant he felt no pain at all while this was happening.

"Hi Chief." He said, "Do you have any news for me?"

The Chief stood next to his bed. Gadget looked so much better and that was good to see. Lula had told him that Gadget would recover quite rapidly now he was out of danger; cyborgs always came back from injuries much faster than mere humans ever could...

"Well it's been amazing how the whole town turned out to give you flowers. Did Penny tell you about that? And the papers have been calling you a hero."

"I know that, she told me. But that's not what I mean. Is there any news on the _bomber,_ Chief?"

He nodded.

"Rather interesting news. Nothing that can give us a lead yet but apparently the bomb was very badly put together- we're _not_ looking for a professional. This was an amateur job. Forensics seem to think who ever built it – by what they could salvage of the design – that it looked to have been intended as a small device not capable of causing much more damage that a few broken windows, maybe some minor injuries. It wasn't intended to be as deadly as it was. The explosives used were too powerful for the device type and far too much was packed in."

Gadget thought about it.

"So the bomber didn't know what they were making?"

Quimby gave a sigh.

"Well obviously they knew they were building a _bomb_, Gadget! The just didn't know how powerful the explosion would be. They made a mistake."

Gadget was feeling quite recovered now as he sat there leaning against the pillows, but he missed his gadget mode and he wanted his back fixed so he could get out there and go after the bomber.

Then he looked down at the tube that ran into his body through the metal plate and remembered what Lula had said; it would be seven days before he could get his spine reconnected because even being tube fed would be too painful right now if he could feel his injuries...

"I want you to bring me the footage from the security cameras." He said, "Just bring them over here and I'll take a look through them. I might see something you've missed."

"We're still trying to find all the pieces and put the tapes back together!" Quimby exclaimed, "Everything was destroyed, blown to pieces...I doubt if any of it will be any good."

Gadget looked at him pleadingly.

"Just let me try. I can't sit here for another week and do nothing, Chief! I _need _to be working on this!"

Quimby nodded.

"Fine, I'll get on to that for you. But it might be a couple of days before I get back to you. They're still sifting through the wreckage to find the surveillance equipment."

Finally Gadget smiled.

"Thanks Chief." He said, "I need to be working."

"I know you do, Gadget." He replied, then he left the room.

G2, who was sitting at Gadgets bedside, looked at her husband and felt an ache in her heart; she hurt for him seeing him so damaged and desperately trying to recover. She still hurt also because of her discovery regarding his deception for five years with Alicia – but that matter could _definitely _wait because right now, his children were here, he was looking so much better and his recovery was the most important thing on her mind.

"I knew you'd want to get out there and find the bomber." She said to him, and then her eyes clouded with sadness.

She lowered her voice even though Grace and Emily were now across the other side of the room, talking together while they sat down on the guest bed that was against the wall.

"The person who planted that bomb is _dangerous_, Gadget! You almost lost your life, _please_ don't get too close."

Gadget stared at G2.

"_Don't get too close?"_ He repeated, "You mean you want me as far away as possible so I have to say Go go Gadget arms to reach 'em to put the cuffs on?"

G2 blinked away tears.

"No, I mean I don't want to think there's a chance you could get hurt again. It was terrible! We were all so frightened! Your life is important to all of us - not just your family, the whole of Riverton loves you! _Don't take too many risks_."

Gadget took Alice from her arms and smiled as he held his baby daughter.

Then as he held her he looked back at his wife.

"G2,"He reminded her, "I'm Gadget; I'm the crime fighter in this town. Once I've got my gadget mode functioning and Lula fixes my back I'll be good as new, I'll be ready to get back out there."

And as he spoke she saw determination in his eyes.

"_I'm going to bring the Riverton Bomber to justice."_ He promised her, "I _will _do it, G2. I _have_ to do it for the sake of the safety of everyone in Riverton."

And G2 looked back at him, knowing nothing would change Gadget's mind. In that moment she knew for certain that even though their marriage was over, even though the time would come when they would have to discuss that matter, nothing would _ever _change the fact that she loved him and he would always be her friend.

_As her husband, things had not worked out._

_But as Gadget, Riverton's finest crime fighter, she felt nothing but pride in him._

_And as a man, for his courage and determination, she had nothing but admiration._

He hadn't been the best of husbands.

But as far as the rest of it went, she knew one thing for sure:

_They would not part on bad terms; she would always call him her friend..._

* * *

A lot of thoughts had run through the mind of Delia Braydon since she had witnessed the devastation the bomb had caused.

Numbness had given way to shock and horror and then something _else _had taken over:

_The fear of getting caught._

The whole of Riverton had been sending flowers to Inspector Gadget, the cyborg detective who had been injured in the explosion after saving many lives by evacuating the building.

Delia wasn't sure why, but after reading about his bravery and then about his terrible injuries, she felt a flicker of something that felt like remorse and it made her feel very uncomfortable to think that she could be regretting this now when it was done with and people were dead and it was all because she had intended to play a dirty trick to undermine the mayor, a trick that had gone horribly wrong because she had never tried her hand at bomb making before...

It had been such a simple plan; sneak into the party while the guests were arriving, plant the bomb and leave again.

She had been expecting a few windows blown out, some structural damage, maybe a few of the guests to have got some cuts and bruises but mostly, just be shaken up – and _very_ much resigned to the fact that Mayor Wilson's claims that Riverton was a crime free, safe place to live were on very shaky ground indeed...

It was just a little push to get her husband ahead in the election stakes.

_But it hadn't worked out that way, it couldn't have turned out any worse..._

Delia stood back and watched as her husband gave a speech in Riverton Town Square as his supporters looked on and listened.

He was reading his speech perfectly and she smiled, thinking perhaps this wouldn't turn out so bad after all- she couldn't change the past and as long she could be sure she was in no danger of getting caught, life would go on...

As long as Taylor won the election, she knew he wouldn't be running Riverton. _She_ would be in control of everything...

"And the recent terrible event of the bombing makes me think that Mayor Wilson is _NOT _running a safe town!"Taylor exclaimed, reading carefully from the paper- without his speech written down he would be lost, but he was holding it tightly as he spoke again:

"Mayor Wilson's claim that this town is one of the safest in the whole world is _false!_ This is a town where a bomb was planted and many lives were lost and I have no doubt this bomber will strike again unless the police do their job and find this guy! If I was the Mayor of this town I would have the bomber tracked down by now, I would make sure the police were working flat out to achieve this! I have put up a one million dollar reward for information leading to the capture of the bomber. I shouldn't have to do that – Riverton Police should _already _be closing in on him! _This town needs change and I will bring that change if you give me the chance_."

Then Taylor stopped and looked down again at his speech and frowned.

"_And...um..." _

Delia gave a sigh, as she wondered why he was hang trouble reading it – her writing had been clear, spaced out, _not_ joined up... _what was holding him back now?_

"_And...and..."_

Taylor stopped, looking at the crowd and the press who were waiting on his words.

Then he screwed up the paper and tossed it on the floor.

"Actually no - _I'd like to say a few words of my own, from my heart..."_

Delia gave a sigh of despair.

"_Oh no!"_ She said quietly.

Taylor looked out to the crowd.

"I read all about the bombing. And I _don't_ think it's true about Riverton not being a safe town. There's one crazy bast – _individual_ - out there who has done this and they need to be found. I want very much to help this town get over what's happened and I _don't_ want to do it by running for Mayor. I like what Mayor Wilson's done to this town, she's run it just fine for years. That's why I've changed my mind. I'm no longer standing as a candidate against Mayor Wilson. Politics bore me anyway. _Instead I want to invest in this town and help other people, because I would be happy doing that._"

Delia's jaw dropped and as she struggled for breath, trying to drag out her words, she looked like a fish that had jumped from its goldfish bowl.

"_No...no..."_ She began, but Taylor was already smiling and talking to reporters about his new plans.

"What do I want to do next?" He wondered.

_He thought about it, silently recalling how Delia had been so mean by trying to blackmail poor Inspector Gadget, who had been caught up in the explosion caused by the Riverton Bomber..._

"First thing I want to do is find out if I can do anything to help our local hero Inspector Gadget." He said, "Because he saved a lot of lives and we're all grateful to him. I'd like to see what I can do to help him out at this difficult time, to help him recover because he's the man for the job, he _will_ catch the bomber and I want to help him do that."

And his eyes lit up as he gave a big, happy smile to the cameras and everyone applauded him.

_Delia was not applauding._

She stood there at the edge of the crowd, eyes dark with anger as she looked at her idiot husband and wondered how much more damage he was planning to cause to what had once been a perfect plan...

Then Delia sat in their car and waited, she waited for a long time while he spoke to the press, then to some of the people who had been listening to his speech.

An hour later, when the crowd had dispersed and the press had left with their story and their pictures, Taylor finally came back to the car.

He got in, closed the door and ran his fingers through his sun-streaked hair and gave Delia a big smile.

"What do you think about my change of plan?"

Delia grabbed her purse and smacked him with it. He raised his arm to shield himself from the blows and she just hit harder, thumping him over and over again.

"_Stop it!"_ He yelled, "What did I do wrong? You said be nice be popular and people will _like_ you - so I quit, I quit because if I'm not shoving the Mayor out of a job I'm being _nice!_"

Delia dropped her purse and looked at him in despair.

_"I didn't mean drop out of the election you stupid dummy!"_

Hurt reflected in his eyes and as she picked up her purse again he flinched, but she was just opening it to check she hadn't broken her powder compact.

She opened it up and checked her face, dabbing away traces of sweat from her otherwise flawless face.

The she snapped the compact shut and put it back in her purse.

"Let's go home." She snapped.

"But I wanted to –"

"_HOME!"_ She yelled as she glared at him.

Taylor started the engine and they drove off, they drove in silence as Delia wondered what she could do about her husband's disastrous decision that had just robbed her of the chance to use him so she could take control of Riverton...

* * *

Maxie was asleep in bed.

Penny watched him from the doorway and smiled and then turned out the light.

As she closed the bedroom door she gave a gasp and then she laughed.

"Max!" She exclaimed, "Did you have to sneak up on me like that? You scared the hell out of me!"

And then her smile faded.

Max was just standing there, looking at her.

He kept on looking at her and she wasn't quite sure what was wrong, because he had an expression in his eyes that she had never seen before.

"Is something wrong?" She asked him.

Max still had his gaze fixed on her.

_He kept his voice low because their son was asleep and he blinked away tears and pushed aside the urge to go into a rage because after all, it wasn't as if she had slept with the guy..._

_No, she had just loved him inside her heart and never even told him._

She had even loved him since..._what_ had she said? _Before she'd got married? She'd loved Gadget more than him throughout their marriage, nursing this secret crush that had grown into love that she thought she could never acknowledge?_

She could acknowledge it now, she was free to do whatever she wanted to do - Gadget wasn't her _real_ uncle and he had heard every word she had said at his bedside...

_"I was there."_ He said in a hushed voice.

His eyes glazed with tears as he kept on looking at Penny.

"I was there, Penny. At the hospital. I got out of the Gadget Mobile and I came up to his room to see how he was, to see if you might be coming back to the service – and you were sitting with him and pouring out your heart. _I know how you feel about him._"

Penny gave a gasp and for a moment she swore the floor shook beneath her feet as if a minor earthquake had just happened.

_"Oh no, Max...please let me explain, I was just –"_

He leaned closer to her, using every ounce of his self control not to grab hold of her and shake her to try make her see sense.

"I _KNOW_ what you said to him! I don't care that he doesn't know, that you'll never tell him! It's not the point, is it? I'll _always_ be second best! I always have been and I always will be!"

He took a deep breath and shook his head.

"No, I can't do this with you any more. God knows we've had enough quarrels in the past about you and your devotion to your Uncle – no wait, he's _not _your Uncle, is he? You never know, you might just get what you want now Penny, especially now G2 knows about him and Alicia! I've noticed the way you're always telling her to go home and rest because of the baby – its because _you_ want a shot at getting hold of him before she dumps him, before Alicia gets out of jail, just to make you get what you want! I know what you want and it isn't me, it _never_ was!"

Penny's eyes grew wider as his words hurt deeply and she gave a sob.

"No! It's _not _like that! Yes I do love him but I don't want to see his marriage break up! And I _do_ care about G2, she's got a baby to look after and she does get tired – I'm doing everything to help for the right reasons, Max! _I'm trying not to let my feelings affect anything, especially not his happiness_!"

He shook his head again.

"_His happiness."_ He said, "That figures - _anything for Gad_get. Take this back, I don't want it any more."

He reached in his pocket and drew out his wedding ring and shoved it into her hand.

"Take it back." He said to her again," Do what you like. I won't be a bastard about any of this because I love our son - but you and me are through. Have you got that?"

The ring felt cold and heavy in her hand as Penny looked at him tearfully, too choked up with the shock of it all to say a single word.

"When people ask me why our marriage ended," He informed her, "I'll blame it on work. I'll say we grew apart. I'm not doing that to help you keep your pathetic little secret of your unrequited love, I'm doing it for me! _I don't want the world to know you married me because you settled for second best, I do have my pride, Penny!_"

"Max, don't do this, _please_ just listen –"

He turned away, hearing her tearful voice but no longer wanting to look her in the eye.

"I'm packing tonight." He said, "I've put in for a transfer. You can tell Maxie that Daddy's working away for a while. You can tell him the truth later on. I've already told him I was thinking about it. I'll say goodbye to him in the morning."

Then he walked down the hall and went into the spare room and closed the door behind him.

Penny leaned against the wall, looked at the wedding ring in her hand and gave another sob, knowing there was nothing she could do to turn this mess around – he had heard every word she said and it was too late now...

* * *

_The days passed._

Penny found that she was the most frequent visitor at Gadget's bedside because G2 was busy with the kids – at least, that was the excuse she gave.

She had told Penny that while she was relieved he was making a good recovery, it still broke her heart to be close to him because she was _not_ going to change her mind about leaving him when he was well enough to come home. Penny had begged her to reconsider and eventually G2 had agreed she would stay until he was back on his feet, but then she would be leaving and that was her final word on the matter.

But at least Gadget was seeing a lot of Emily - she often came in after school to see her Daddy and give him a big hug and as she touched the silver plate that covered half his face she asked him questions about what it felt like to be wearing it.

Emily had no fear of his change in appearance because Lula had told her daughter everything, G2 had tried to do the same to Grace - but Grace was still a little uncomfortable seeing her father looking so different. She had always accepted his gadgets as simply part of what made him her Daddy, but seeing the metal on his face like that made her think he looked more like a robot and she was still a little bit uncomfortable with the sight of that.

The room was still full of flowers – when the news had broken that Inspector Gadget was recovering, people had sent more flowers and gifts.

Seeing so many flowers and knowing so many people loved him made Penny smile as she looked around his room.

"You'll be out of here soon." She reminded him.

"I know..." Gadget was resting on pillows that supported his back as he pressed a button and reversed the frame, watching the grainy, damaged footage on the screen beside his bed as he replayed it watching guests arrive for the Mayor's party.

"I just can't see _anything_ on here." He said to her, "Just people arriving, all guests...and then it goes all blurry and distorted because of the damage to the tape...can't they clean it up any better than this?"

Penny sat on the edge of his bed and leaned closer, looking over his shoulder at the blurry images.

"Chief Quimby said this is as good as it gets."

Gadget turned his head and looked at Penny.

"This can't be the _only_ footage. There _has_ to be more. There were so many camera rigged up around that place."

"And most of them were totally destroyed." She reminded him, "The room where the recordings ran back to was blown up and that's where the fire started. There's very little left to go on."

Then a bleep sounded and Penny switched off the machine next to the bed that had been pushing fluid through the tube into his body.

"You're all done for the day." She reminded him.

"I guess I am." He replied, still watching the blurred images on the screen.

Penny gave a sigh.

"Lula said you can disconnect it yourself, she showed you how to do it. _Don't be scared to touch it!_""

"I don't _want_ to touch it." He replied, turning his face away from the screen and looking at the tube that ran into the valve on the metal plate that moulded across the middle of his body.

"Just disconnect it." Penny told him, "You know how to do it!"

Gadget looked at her nervously.

"I _really_ don't want to touch that thing."

"Okay." Penny told him, shifting down the bed and carefully taking hold of the tube, "I'll do it for you."

He tensed as he saw her turn the tube.

"Just leave it, let Lula do it."

Penny laughed.

"Don't be so silly! I've watched her put this thing in and take it out so many times I _know_ how it works!""

As the tube came free, she carefully turned the valve anti clockwise and a metal seal slid across it.

"There you go." She said, "It's all done."

And she raised the covers for him, bringing them up to his chest.

"Thanks." Gadget said quietly, then he looked back at the blurry security footage again and switched it off.

"There _has_ to be more!" He exclaimed, "There has to be another tape that survived the explosion."

"It's taking a long time to go through all the wreckage." Penny reminded him, "Forensics are picking though absolutely everything. If there's another tape they'll find it."

Then the door opened and Lula came into the room.

"How are you feeling, Gadget?" She asked him.

Gadget smiled at her.

"Well it's been seven days so I was hoping maybe you could reconnect my gadget mode because I _really _need to get back to work –"

"No." She replied,"No, I won't do that until I fuse your spine together and it's properly healed. And I can do that today, right after I disconnect you from the IV lines. You don't need them any more."

"I don't need them?" He exclaimed.

Lula smiled.

"If you promise me you won't over do things, providing the spinal cable has properly fused together, you can go home tomorrow."

Penny gave him a hug.

"Oh that's wonderful news!" She said excitedly.

Lula was busy taking out the IV lines that ran into his arms.

As the last one came out he gave a sigh.

"I feel a lot better already just to be free of all the needles. I'll feel even better when I can feel the rest of my body again!"

"Actually Gadget, when you get full sensation back I think it's going to remind you just how badly hurt you are." Lula said cautiously "As soon as the nerves fuse again you'll feel _everything_ - and that includes the pain from your healing wounds."

"I just want my body back please!" He said to her, "I don't care if it aches a little bit."

Lula looked at him doubtfully... he was expecting it to _ache_ a little bit? It was going to hurt considerably more than an ache, but at least she hoped that discomfort would deter him from doing too much too soon...

"I won't be able to give you anything for the pain." Lula told him, "Because if I did that I know you'd be straight out there on active duty and doing yourself more harm than good. You _have_ to rest. Will you promise me you'll do that?"

Gadget looked at her reluctantly.

"Okay, I'll try to rest as much as I can."

Penny was still smiling; this was the best news she could have hoped for: _finally Gadget was getting out of here and going home again..._

"He _will_ rest." She promised her, "I'll make sure of it."

* * *

A short while later Penny sat by the window and watched, feeling nervous even though Lula had assured her that this procedure was simple.

Gadget was on his front and his head was turned towards her and as Lula injected the scar on his lower back she swore she felt the pain of the needle herself, but Gadget was still numb and felt nothing.

"That's just a local anaesthetic so he doesn't feel pain when he gets full sensation back," She told her.

"And my upgraded skin heals within a couple of hours." Gadget reminded her, "It won't hurt me for long, Penny."

She smiled at him, feeling thankful he had reminded her of that.

Lula moved some equipment closer and lit up a powerful magnified screen above his lower back, and then took a scalpel and opened him up in the same place as before.

She paused to wipe away some rust coloured fluid and then opened up the incision.

As Penny saw her do that she thought back to the emergency treatment Lula had been forced to give him in the ballroom and she looked away, remembering how she'd heard the _snap_ as his spinal cable had been cut.

"Shouldn't this be done in the operating room?" Penny wondered.

Gadget, who could still feel nothing at all, answered that question for her.

"I'm an upgraded cyborg –I'm bacteria resistant." He reminded her, "They only need to take me in there if they have to do major work. This is nothing at all."

Lula was still looking at the magnified image of the two ends of the cable.

She looked closer and then carefully raised one end, examining the microscopic fibres within that served as artificial nerve endings.

"Gadget," She said quietly, "I don't want you to worry about this, it could be nothing at all – but there are ninety seven micro fibres inside this cable and every one of them carry signals around your body and I can see..."

She turned up the magnifier.

_"Eleven of them have become frayed on the upper end of the cut where the cable was divided. "_

Gadget's eyes clouded with worry.

"Is that bad news? What do you mean?"

Lula looked again at the damage.

"It could mean you have some mild nerve damage and I can't fix it. We won't know until you're fused back together but it's likely you will have some kind of damage. It won't be anything severe but it's definitely there, I'm so sorry."

Gadget wished he could move but right now he was still paralysed.

"Well can't you just replace the cable?"

"It's not that simple." Lula told him, "It's the upper end of your spinal cable; it was put in when you were modified into a cyborg. It connects directly to your brainstem. Maybe in time with scientific advances it can be fixed, but not right now. It's a permanent fixture. _It can never come out._"

Penny saw how worried Gadget looked and now she was starting to worry too.

"How bad will this damage be?" She asked her.

"I wish I could tell you but I don't know how it will affect him." Lula replied, "It will certainly be mild, it's not severe..."

And then she pushed the two ends of the cable together and they instantly joined, meeting and twisting back as each fibre gelled into place.

"That's done." She said, pushing the wound closed and applying a dressing.

"You won't feel anything for around an hour." She told him, "Then you'll get –"

"I know." Gadget said to her, "I've heard about what the fusion can be like. Pins and needles and shooting pains for a couple of hours!"

"And you need to rest flat on your back until morning. By then everything will be back to normal."

Lula carefully helped Gadget to turn over and she lowered the bed, making sure he was lying completely flat and then she pulled the covers up to his chest.

Gadget still felt worried as he wondered about the damage.

"Lula, how did it happen?" He asked her, "I mean, I can't get infections and I know cutting the cable is a simple procedure. So why did I get nerve damage? I don't see how it could have happened."

Lula already knew the answer and her heart felt heavy as she recalled just how close she'd come to losing him when his thermostat had crashed.

"Your thermostat failed." She reminded him, "And the fibres inside the spinal cable are neither heat nor cold resistant. When you froze, some of the ends of the fibres got damaged. But at least it's very mild, it could have been a _lot_ worse."

"Thanks," Gadget said nervously as he waited for the sensation to creep back to his body "That makes me feel a lot better!"

Lula wished there was more she could do, but she knew all she could do now was wait.

"I'll see you in the morning." She told him, then she walked away and left the room.

Penny sat beside Gadget's bed and took hold of his hand.

"Don't worry so much!" She said, trying to be positive, "You heard what she said – it's _very_ mild damage. It's nothing serious!"

Gadget looked up at Penny as she sat beside him holding his hand.

"Will you stay here tonight? I don't want to be on my own, I'm scared."

Penny smiled.

"Of course I will," She promised him, "You didn't even need to _ask_ me that question! I'll be right here, next to your bed. I _won't_ leave you."

"Thanks Penny." Gadget said quietly, then he closed his eyes, wishing he could sleep but knowing it would be impossible as he waited for the feeling to return to his body, and while he waited he wondered exactly how those damaged fibres would affect him, because like Lula said, it was permanent, it was the one part of his artificial body that _couldn't _be repaired...


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

It was almost dawn and Penny woke up as she heard Gadget catch his breath.

She opened her eyes and saw pain register on his face.

"Uncle Gadget?" She said in a worried voice, "What's the matter?"

He breathed out heavily; fighting the urge to go against Lula's instructions and turn over and move about now the feeling was back in his body. He couldn't escape the discomfort.

"It's pins and needles." He said, "Down my back, shooting pains down my right leg...I just want this to _stop!_"

Penny lifted the sheet up above his knees and watched as he drew up his right leg, then he breathed out heavily again.

"It's like a cramp-"

"I'll help you with it."

Before he could say _no_, Penny began to carefully massage his leg, as she did it she could feel his calf muscle contracting painfully.

"Is this supposed to happen?" She wondered.

"Yes, it's easy to disconnect spinal cable but it hurts like hell when it goes back together. _Oh I hate the tingling!"_

As she rubbed his leg she smiled.

"But you've got your body back." She reminded him.

"That's true. Now I just want my gadget mode back on. I'm _not_ leaving until Lula reactivates it."

The cramping had stopped now and Penny folded the covers back in place.

Gadget took a deep breath and closed his eyes, wishing he could black out the pins and needle sensation as the mended pathways started to warm up and the numbness wore off.

Then he opened his eyes again.

"And I'm so sore!" He complained, "That plate across my stomach really feels strange, like it's itchy underneath. The one on my face feels the same too!"

Gadget looked very unhappy.

"_She was right, this does hurt, it hurts a lot!"_

Penny took hold of his hand and gave it a squeeze.

As he looked at her he still had that look in his eyes that said right now, he _needed_ to feel sorry for himself...

"It's not forever." She reminded him,"You're going to be just fine."

"I know that." He replied, "But it's so hard to wait for everything, I just want to be back to normal, Penny."

Then Lula came into the room.

"Morning Gadget." She said brightly, "How are you?"

One look at his face told her all she needed to know; the spinal fusion was working now and he was starting to get sensation back - along with discomfort as the pathways rejoined together and he was feeling sore from his injuries too.

"I feel lousy!" He told her.

"Well I _did_ warn you to expect that." She replied, "So it's a good thing you'll be going home to _rest_ when you get out of here."

As the pins and needles started to fade, Gadget looked at her hopefully.

"So I can go home now? _Right now?_"

"After I've made some last minute checks."

Gadget gave a sigh.

"I don't have time for this, I have a _case_ to be working on!"

"And you'll be working on it from _home_ for at least another two weeks." Lula reminded him, "You're _not_ fit for active duty and I've told the Chief that. I won't sign you on as fit for active duty until that graft has healed a little stronger. I know you to want to get out there and catch the bomber, I know you like to think you're never off duty – but you've been _hurt_, Gadget! You _have_ to take time to recover."

He looked at Penny, hoping there was a chance she might see his point of view – but she only had his welfare at heart too.

"She's right." Penny told him, "You won't make much of a crime fighter if you're not ready to go back to work. You _do_ need to rest."

Gadget looked back at Lula.

"I'm itching like crazy under the metal plates. Can't you do anything about it?"

Lula smiled.

"That's because the membrane that covers your metal infused bones has grown back and it's encouraging the skin to grow over it. Don't worry, it just means you're healing – and you're doing it rapidly, too. When it gets unbearable just put an ice pack against it and that will stop the itching."

"Wont that hurt?" Gadget wondered.

"No, it will give you instant relief." Lula promised him, "Because that's how healing cybernetic skin reacts to cold. And when you use the feeding tube if you feel a sharp pain, turning on your side will definitely help to alleviate it because the graft has been in long enough for you to start getting stronger. But don't _eat_ anything! If you do it's going to cause you a lot of pain! Just keep using the tube and come back to see me once a week and I'll scan beneath the plates and tell you how everything's going."

Gadget had got tired of being flat on his back.

"Can I sit up now?" He wondered.

"Not just yet." Lula told him, I need to check out the damage to your spinal cable. It won't take long."

Gadget gave a sigh and turned over as Lula brought some equipment over to the bed.

Then she glanced at Penny.

"Would you mind waiting outside while I do this?"

Penny frowned.

"Why?" She wondered, thinking back to everything Gadget had been through since the explosion and how she had not left his side once.

Gadget turned his head as he laid face down on the bed and looked at Penny.

"She's got to scan the whole of my spine and check me all over...I mean _everywhere_."

"Oh, okay..." Penny said quickly as she got up, "I'll wait outside then."

And she left the room, closed the door behind her and sat down on a chair in the corridor, waiting for his scan to be over and hoped the damage Lula had mentioned before _was _just minor after all...

* * *

As Lula ran the scanner over his spine, she watched the screen and paused to check the point of fusion.

"Everything's back the way it should be." She told him, "And I can see the damaged pathways showing up in red and I'm going to track them..."

Then she folded the sheet off his body and the scanner slid lower.

Her eyes were still on the screen.

"Can you turn on your side for me?"

Gadget turned over, feeling pleased that he was able to do this easily now.

Lula stayed silent as she looked at the screen, the she switched it off and took the scanner off his body.

"Lay on your back for me." She said to him.

Gadget turned over again,this time feeling a dull ache beneath the metal plate across the middle of his body.

She placed her hand on his thigh and gave a squeeze.

Pain shot down his leg like a bolt of electricity and Gadget gave a brief cry of pain.

_"Don't do that again!"_ He said to her, "That hurts... that _really _hurts!"

"That's one of the results of the damaged fibres." She told him, "You'll get back pain that radiates down your right leg. It won't be constant, it will come and go, but it probably won't happen too frequently. "

Then she thought about what _else_ she had seen on the scan, and she tried to choose her words carefully because she knew how difficult Gadget found it to talk about such private things...

"And four of the damaged pathways run to the connecting pipe that makes your pelvic reconstruction work properly. You have fourteen other connections down there that are working just fine but the damage_ will_ affect your sex life. I'm not saying you cant have one, I'm just saying it will be a little bit _different_ to how it was before."

Gadget turned his head and looked back at Lula.

"No, don't tell me I went though all that with the reconstruction to find I can't use it any more!"

"No I didn't say that." She corrected him, "It just means you will need a lot more stimulation - you'll still be capable of experiencing normal function, you can take lovemaking through to conclusion - but you have to be reliant on touching and stimulation to get you there. You won't be able to physically make love in the way that you used to; the signals that carry down to the reconstructed tissue are just too weak now. I'm not saying this can't be fixed in time – once we make advancements in repairing sections of spinal cable you will probably be able to get full function back the way it was before."

"So I can't make love properly any more, it's all over for me, is that what you mean?"

"You don't have to look at it _that_ way!" Lula told him as she pulled the sheet back over him again, "You can still respond to stimulus and when you get close to the edge you could still be together with your partner to do that, you can still conceive that way if you're thinking about having more kids. You just can't make _love_ the way you used to. It's _not_ the end of the world. Talk to G2 about it, I'm sure she'll understand, she loves you so very much, Gadget."

He gave a heavy sigh.

"But it doesn't sound like I've got much to look forward to."

"I'll outline a report about your back problem and see if we can get some research done, then we might be able to fix the problem."

"No," Gadget said, "I _don't _want the Chief and Mayor Wilson reading all about my damage!"

Lula spoke kindly as she replied.

"I _won't_ mention the pelvic problem. I'll just focus on the back pain, okay?"

"Thanks." Gadget told her, then he thought about something else that he desperately needed set right.

"_I want my gadget mode back."_ He said quietly.

"Okay," Lula replied, "I'll fix your chip right now and you can rest for a couple of hours and then Penny can take you home. How does that sound?"

Gadget managed a smile.

"At least I'm going home." He said, trying to be positive even though he felt devastated by her diagnosis...

* * *

When Lula left Gadget's room, she saw Penny waiting outside and turned and spoke to her quietly.

"I've just reconnected his Gadget mode but it won't be coming back online just yet, it will take a couple of days. He's happy to have everything back in working order but..."

And she paused, wondering exactly how much she ought to say to her, because Gadget had made it clear he didn't want anyone to know about the true nature of what the spinal cable damage had done to him.

"The nerve damage is minor," She told her, "But it means he's going to have some back ache sometimes and he's a bit down about it. So it might be best if you don't bring up the subject, just try and get him to focus on the positive side of everything."

Penny smiled.

"Of course I will." She said, then she gave Lula a hug and as she let go, tears were shining in her eyes.

"Thank you," She said to her,"Thank you for getting him through this, for saving his life."

Lula smiled back at her.

"I wouldn't have given up on him." She promised her," It was tough but he got himself through it really – he's a real fighter."

Penny felt a wave of love wash through her heart mixed with immense pride as she thought about how the whole town had called him a hero and sent so many flowers and gifts.

"I know he is." She said to her, "I'm so proud of him."

Then Penny went into Gadget's room.

As she closed the door she stopped and stared.

"What do you think you're doing?" She exclaimed.

Gadget was fully dressed and standing by the mirror as he straightened his tie and adjusted his fedora hat.

He looked at her through the mirror and he smiled at her as if nothing had happened – except it had, the metal plate that covered half his face was a big reminder of what he had been through, and so was the rapidly healing scar on his temple where Lula had just fixed the chip that controlled his gadget mode.

"I'm just getting ready to leave." Gadget told her," You know me, Penny –I'm always on duty!"

He brushed down his trench coat and then focussed on the digital message at the back of his eye.

"Gadget mode on!" He said.

And as the message blinked back _Off line_, he gave a sigh.

"It's _not_ working!"

Penny smiled.

"Lula said it won't come back for a couple of days. She's trying to make you take things easy!"

Gadget walked over to the door and opened it and Penny followed.

"It feels so good to be getting out of here!" He said, sounding relieved.

Then Lula turned the corner and saw him standing there.

"I told you to take a couple more hours rest!"

"I can rest in the Gadget Mobile on the way home. I can rest when I get home too. _I'm fine_."

"You'll need to take the machine with you and the feeding tube and the packs of fluid. _And_ you have to hook up to the machine once a day, don't forget!"

"I'll make sure he doesn't forget." Penny told her.

And Lula looked at Gadget, giving him one last reminder:

"Don't eat anything. You can't eat food until the graft's healed and the tube is out. Remember that. But you can drink water and milk is fine too, as long as it's cold. Have you got that?"

Gadget nodded.

"I'm not likely to forget."

Then he looked into the eyes of Lula Smith, the woman who had saved his life, the woman who was also the mother of his daughter Emily.

_"Thanks."_ He said warmly,_ "I wouldn't be here now if it wasn't for you."_

And he gave her a hug and kissed her cheek and as he pulled away something unsaid passed between them as they exchanged a final glance.

Penny looked away, not wanting to be caught up in the middle of that moment.

* * *

Finally, Penny was in the Gadget Mobile and Gadget was in the driver's seat and they were ready to leave.

"This is the day I've been waiting for!" The car announced joyfully, "Welcome back, G Man!"

Gadget smiled.

Then he felt a twinge of pain and he cautiously put his hand over the place where the plate covered the stomach wound that was now hidden beneath his clothes.

"Drive carefully." He reminded the car, "Don't hit any bumps - I'm still sore!"

"I'll be very careful, don't you worry about that!" Gadget Mobile promised him, and the car started up and drove away, keeping an even speed and taking care to avoid bumps in the road.

They drove away from the hospital, reached the open road and headed down the highway.

As the city was left behind and nothing surrounded them but fields and open space, Penny leaned back in her seat and smiled.

"It's over now." She said, "You're going to be okay."

"I _will_ be okay once I can eat again, I'm really missing food. And I'll be happy once this _thing_ is off my face," He said, indicating to the metal that covered the damaged half of his face.

"I quite like it!" The car exclaimed, "You don't have as much metal as me, Gadget - but it looks great in my opinion!"

"Well I _don't_ like it and it's coming off soon." Gadget informed him, "Then I'll look like _me_ again!"

Gadget was relaxing in the seat while the car took over.

"You still look like you." Penny told him, "It's just a piece of metal on your face. It _doesn't_ stop you looking like Gadget."

He laughed.

"So it doesn't improve my looks then?" He joked.

Penny smiled.

"_You're still handsome."_

Then her smile faded as she wondered how the hell _that _remark had slipped out, and she quickly glanced away, looking at the open fields as the scenery sped by.

Gadget frowned slightly at that remark; _it had never occurred to him that Penny thought of him as handsome..._

"Oh well, nearly home now." He said changing the subject, "I'll bet G2 will be surprised!"

Penny stared at him.

"You haven't told her?"

"No, I wanted to surprise her."

Penny thought about how G2 felt about his relationship with Alicia. _And she had said, as soon as he was back on his feet, she would break the news to him that she knew everything..._

"What's the matter?" Gadget said, wondering why Penny suddenly looked so lost in her own thoughts.

She shook her head.

"Nothing, nothing at all."

And Gadget Mobile carried on the road that led to home, while Penny hoped that G2 wouldn't drop the bombshell about leaving just yet, because Gadget wasn't fully recovered and it would be quite a while before he would be strong enough to be able to deal with her decision...

* * *

Gadget got out of the car and paused for a moment, partly because the metal across the middle of his body was making him feel sore, and partly because seeing home again after all he had been through had made him feel quite emotional.

He leaned against the Gadget Mobile for a moment and just looked at the house.

"Are you alright?" Penny wondered.

Gadget nodded.

"I'm fine Penny, just give me a minute."

Gadget looked at the house, thought about G2, the kids... then he started to walk towards the front door.

Suddenly there was an excited yapping and Brain dashed out like a blur, leaping as Gadget reached for him.

The dog landed in his arms and Gadget felt an ache across the middle of his body but he smiled as Brain wagged his tail furiously and began to lick his face.

"I've missed you too, Brain!" He told him, setting the excited dog back on the ground.

He pressed his hand to his aching body and cautiously straightened up once more.

Penny had noticed the brief look of pain that registered on his face.

"Are you okay?" She asked him.

Gadget nodded.

"I'll just have to remember not to bend too much...or move too much..."

They were at the front door now and Gadget went inside and Penny followed.

"I'm feeling so sore." He said quietly to Penny, "I need to sit down."

Then Grace came running down the stairs.

"_Daddy!"_ She squealed in delight, and ran to him, slamming into his arms and Penny saw the look of pain on Gadget's face again as he took the impact straight across the metal plate that was fixed to the middle of his body.

"Don't squeeze me too hard, honey." Gadget said as she let go of him, "I'm still a little bit sore."

_"Gadget?"_

G2 had just come out of the front room.

She was standing there in a pale dress that seemed to catch the sunlight that came through from the open window and as she blinked back tears she smiled.

"I can't believe you're back so soon!"

"I'm definitely back," He said warmly, "I'm home now."

And he took her in his arms and hugged her.

As G2 clung to him and tried not to shed tears, Penny caught the look of pain in her eyes. She was happy he was home, of course she was – _but she still couldn't forgive him for Alicia and they hadn't even discussed that matter yet..._

"You've never looked so beautiful." Gadget said to his wife as he held her and blinked away tears.

G2 gave him another hug and then she let go.

She noticed he looked pale and she guessed he was far from recovered; he had just been in a rush to get home- _and_ to get back to work, too...

"You'd better come and sit down." She said to him, "I want to make sure you take it easy."

Then she looked to Grace.

"Could you leave me and Daddy to have a little talk, honey?"

Grace looked up at her.

"But I want to sit with my Daddy!"

"You can sit with him in a minute" G2 promised her, "Now take Brain outside, go and play in the garden with him."

Grace gave a sigh.

"Come on Brain!" She called out, picking up his favourite ball.

Grace headed for the back door and Brain was there before her, keen to play another game.

* * *

As Gadget sat down heavily in his favourite arm chair Penny noticed that look of pain on his face again.

She lingered in the doorway while G2 sat down on the couch and looked at her husband.

And Penny was silently praying that G2 would _not_ tell him, _not today_, not the day he came home...surely she could wait a while longer, Gadget was barely recovered, it just didn't seem fair to tell him she knew about his affair, not right now at _this_ moment...

But as she spoke to him, Penny breathed a sigh of relief: _she was still holding it back._

"I really don't want you to go back to work yet." G2 said to him, "You're not properly over this yet, Gadget! I'd like you to stay at home and rest."

He gave a sigh.

"Okay, I'll take it easy. But I've got every intention of working from home at least for now – I _have_ to do all I can to catch the bomber. This is something that can't wait."

And then he shifted slightly as an ache began at the rejoined cable in his back and the pain crept down his leg.

"What's wrong?" G2 wondered.

"Lula said when my thermostat crashed the drop in temperature damaged some of the nerve fibres. She said it's just mild nerve damage and it could have been worse but ..."

He stopped, glancing up and seeing Penny was standing in the doorway.

"Maybe we can talk about this later. Penny, would you like to come over for dinner on Sunday? Bring Max if he's not working."

Penny's eyes clouded with sadness.

There would _never_ be a good time to say this, so she just said it and got it over with:

_"Max is gone. We broke up. And he's not coming back."_

Gadget stared at her.

"Why would he do a thing like that?" G2 exclaimed, "I thought you were so happy together!"

"We never really were all that happy." Penny admitted, "We tried, but we grew apart. I think it was the long hours he worked, it got between us."

Gadget forgot about how sore he felt as he thought about a solution to the problem.

"Why don't I drive you over to see him? Maybe you could talk to him, maybe I could ask him to come back, I've always got on well with him."

Penny's eyes grew wider as she thought about the _real _reason Max had left.

"No!" She said quickly, "There's no point. We both decided it would be for the best. And he's out of town any way, he put in for a transfer."

Gadget looked at Penny and she saw so much sympathy in his eyes she wanted to burst into tears and sob in his arms, but she held it back.

"I wish I could do something to help."He said to her.

Penny forced a smile.

"Just think about getting better!" She reminded him, "That's all I want you to do – it's what we _all_ want you to do!"

Then she checked the time.

"I'd better get going, I've got to pick Maxie up from school. I'll see you soon."

"Are you coming over for dinner?" Gadget wondered.

Penny looked back at him and shook her head.

"Not until you're better."

"Why not?" Gadget wondered.

"Because it's not fair on you. I'm not going to sit there having dinner and you can't eat anything."

"I know that but I'll be okay with it."

Penny walked over to him and kissed his cheek.

"I'll see you soon. I might come over tomorrow when I've taken Max to school in the morning, okay?"

Gadget smiled." Okay." He replied, then he waited until Penny left, listening for the front door to close.

Once she was gone he thought about the news he had to break to G2, and he hoped she would be able to deal with this because they had already been through so much...

_"There's more."_ He said quietly, "This nerve damage, it's going to affect our relationship. I won't be able to...well... _we can still.._." Gadget was struggling to explain.

He didn't want to cry and he knew he would if he didn't just come out and say it so he finally said it:

_"It's going to affect our love life. It won't be the same any more."_

G2 thought about how angry she had been over Alicia and suddenly that anger was pushed aside as she got up and went over to her husband and gave him a hug.

As soon as she did that, Gadget sobbed against her shoulder.

_"I can't make love to you like I used to. The nerve pathways are damaged in my spine. It just won't be the same, I'm sorry. They can't do a thing to fix it either, it's forever."_

G2 looked into his eyes.

"Gadget," She said kindly as she brushed a tear from his face, "You've been through hell. A little bit of minor nerve damage is the _least_ of your worries. You need to rest and get well again. Now why don't you go upstairs and have a lie down?"

Suddenly that seemed like a good idea and he nodded, getting up stiffly as his healing back ached again.

"Maybe you could come up with me." He said to her.

G2 thought about Alicia, Gadget and Alicia, five years of deception – then she saw how weak and distraught he looked and again she put the knowledge of his affair to the back of her mind.

"No, I'm busy with Grace, and Alice will be waking up soon. You go upstairs and rest, Gadget. I want you to get better."

"Okay I'll do that." He told her.

On the way out of the room he kissed her cheek, but G2 did not return his kiss.

Once he was out of the room she gave a heavy sigh, thinking again about his infidelity:

_She was still decided to leave but now he was home it seemed all the more difficult to carry out her plans..._

* * *

Much later, when it had grown dark and Maxie was asleep, Penny went into her bedroom and took the letter she had written to Gadget from her coat pocket and opened it up again.

She read the words once more and still every single one of them rang true.

She thought about Max, now far away and although she missed him she had no regrets, because she knew if she had not told Gadget the truth and then he had died, she always would have regretted it.

But he had lived and he was back at home and G2 was showing no sign of confronting him about his affair - and to Penny that came as a relief, purely because she didn't want to think G2 might leave and break Gadget's heart...

_She never, ever wanted anyone to break his heart._

Again her tears fell on the words she had read to him while he was unconscious, they were words he had not even heard say, but they were free now, flying free, they were no longer locked up in a cage inside her heart.

Penny folded the letter and put it under her pillow, then she lay down on her bed, missing the warmth of her husband while she thought about Gadget and wept into her pillow for all the things she could never have.

She thought back to when she was a girl and remembered how she used to love reading fairytales:

_Fairytales had happy endings._

_Princesses found princes._

_They lived happily ever after._

_Penny had always dreamed about being Cinderella, this girl with nothing, no one to love her who was rescued by a prince._

_She had been alone until Gadget had taken her in, he was all she had, the only person who cared for her, loved her and protected her._

_Then she had grown up and looked at him one day and that feeling had gone into her heart and she had thought no more about it, other than to think she needed to find a man like her amazing Uncle Gadget who had become the best, closest, dearest friend she had ever been lucky enough to know._

_Penny's life had not been easy before Gadget came along. But he had always been like a beautiful blessing, a gift in her life, the person who made everything happy for her._

Now she knew he wasn't her Uncle, there was no need to hide from the truth in her own heart.

But what good could it do, what difference did it really make?

_He would never be her prince._

_She was right, those words she had written had never rung with more truth than they did right now:_

_There were no happy endings;_

_Cinderella got her prince because of a lost glass slipper and the need for a happy ever after on the last page of the story._

_But that was just a fairytale._

_Life was just not like that, not real life:_

_In reality, life would always be unfair, because life was like that._

Then Maxie woke up and came into the room and asked for a glass of water and Penny dried her eyes and switched on the light, and when her son asked her why her eyes were red she said she was just tired, and then she fetched him a glass of water, put him back to bed and got on with her evening alone, trying not to think about all the things that she could never have, because of the cold hard fact that could never be changed, the fact that life was unfair, it was unfair and always would be...


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

Delia Braydon was sitting up in bed in silk sheets drinking coffee and watching the morning news on TV.

Taylor had just started to wake and as he slid his arm around her she nudged him, pushing him away as she kept her eyes fixed on the screen as Chief Quimby spoke to the reporter:

"_The latest news we can reveal that we know to be accurate is the person who planted the device was an amateur. The way the device was put together confirms this. Which means the claims made by an anonymous caller who suggested the ACR were to blame is in fact a hoax. I am confident that the knowledge that this person is an amateur and most likely acting alone will lead to new clues to the bombers identity..."_

As Delia listened her eyes grew wider.

_And Taylor's hand was sliding over her hip._

She gave him another nudge.

"_Get off me!"_ She snapped as she put the coffee down again, _"I'm watching the news!"_

Taylor came up from under the sheets, with his hair messed up and his eyes looking sleepy as he smiled hopefully at Delia.

"Can we kiss and make up now?" He wondered.

She turned her back on him and carried on watching the news report as the Chief continued to speak:

"And I'm pleased to confirm that Inspector Gadget is making a recovery from his injuries that is nothing short of miraculous, and he is now home again with his family. As soon as he is able he will be joining the efforts of the police department to find the Riverton Bomber –"

Taylor sat up and blinked, now wide awake.

"_The Riverton Bomber?"_ He exclaimed, _"Have they caught him yet?"_

The news report had just ended.

Delia gave a heavy sigh.

"No they haven't." She said, and then she felt a creeping sense of dread growing cold over her flesh as she thought about everything the Chief had said:

_They knew the bomber was inexperienced, acting alone too? _

_And Inspector Gadget, the famous crime fighter was going to be on the case?_

_It suddenly felt like a net was closing in and all she knew was she had to make the police think they'd got it wrong – and there was only one way to do that – to strike again, and make it look professional this time... _

Taylor put his arm around her yet again and she pushed him away, getting up and wrapping herself in a pink silken robe.

"Where are you going?" Taylor wondered.

"I'm getting up, I'm having a shower and then I'm going out." She replied.

"Can I come with you?" Taylor asked her.

She gave him a weary look.

"No, you _can't_ come with me – _not_ to the shower _or _with me when I go out because I am _still _angry with you!"

Taylor recalled how angry she had been over his decision to pull out of the election and he looked at her with eyes like a scolded puppy.

"I'd like to come with you. We could go out together, it might be nice."

Delia headed towards the bathroom, not looking back as her eyes and her voice darkened as she thought about her plan.

"_Not today,"_ She said in a low voice, _"I've got some shopping to do..."_

* * *

The front door closed and G2 walked towards the front room.

She had just taken Grace to school and on coming home she had expected to find Gadget sleeping as he recovered, but she wrong.

Gadget was on the sofa, laying on his side because it was the only way to do it without discomfort - his shirt was open and the tube that connected to the metal plate across his body was pumping fluid into him.

And he was talking on the phone.

"Yes that's right," He was saying, "It's Inspector Gadget_. I need to speak to Alicia MacKenzie, it's urgent._"

G2 stood in the hallway, listening as the conversation unfolded...

Gadget hadn't even heard the door close; he had been lost in thoughts of Alicia and wondering how well her parole hearing had gone...

He felt an ache across the metal plate and shifted position on the sofa, then he forgot about his own discomfort as he heard Alicia's voice on the end of the phone.

"_Gadget?"_

She sounded tearful.

"Listen," He said to her, "Firstly –I'm sorry I couldn't be there for you at the parole hearing. You know what happened to me, I was in bad shape, Alicia. I lost two whole weeks because I was so badly hurt! I'm _so _sorry I couldn't be there for you. How did it go?"

She sounded tearful again.

"_Oh Gadget, you don't know how bad I feel about –"_

Gadget stopped her right there.

"Don't upset yourself Alicia," He said kindly, "There was nothing you could do to help, being locked up in jail. But I'm all right now, I'm getting better."

"No," She said to him, _"I'm sorry, about what I said."_

Gadget felt confused by her remark.

"What you said?"

"_To your wife. I'm so sorry I told her everything!"_

And Alicia started to cry again.

"I didn't mean it to come out the way it did, but my parole hearing got cancelled! The cops tried to put me in the frame for the bombing, they accused me of knowing who the bomber was! I _don't_, Gadget! How do you think _that _made me feel?"

She gave another sob.

"I just_...lost it_."

Gadget's grip on the phone weakened as his voice trembled.

"_You told her about us? How could you do a thing like that, Alicia? I've got my marriage, I've got kids! Have you gone crazy?"_

And G2 walked into the room, put Alice down in her baby carrier and looked into her husband's eyes.

Gadget blinked back tears.

"I...I can't do this with you, Alicia..." He stammered, seeing the look in his wife's eyes.

G2 gently took the phone from his hand and cut off the call and placed the phone on the table.

"Yes I _do_ know." She said quietly, and her eyes blurred with tears as she wished this conversation could have come about later, when he was recovered, not right now because there was nothing that reminded her of how badly hurt he was more than seeing him hooked up to that feeding tube.

G2 sat on the edge of the sofa and looked into his eyes.

Gadget had tears running down his face and she wanted to hug him but instead she just spoke calmly because she didn't want him to feel even more upset by speaking harsh words at a time like this.

"I took her call while you were still critical." She told him, "She demanded to speak to you because she was in a relationship with you and she made it clear how long it had been going on. That's what I can't get over – five years is a _long_ time –"

"_I won't see her again!"_

Gadget grabbed her hand, looking at her tearfully, "I didn't set out to deceive you or cheat on you! She was someone I should have stayed away from but I felt sorry for her and when I found out about Grace it didn't matter that she wasn't mine! She had no one and I wanted to give that child a home! And then..."

Gadget thought about it but he was sure no matter how he tried to explain, it wouldn't make things any better, not now...

"And then I couldn't stop seeing her mother. I felt sorry for her; yes I _did_ care about her. And I'm the one who got her put in jail - but I _didn't_ realize she would get a sentance that reflected her father's crimes. That's _not_ justice, G2!"

Her emotions were in turmoil but G2 was listening, processing everything with her logical robot mind.

"I know that." She told him, "Her sentance was out of proportion in reflection of her crime. And there are circumstances that explain some of her actions, I know she was mistreated and abused. _But you must understand that we can't stay together because of your infidelity. We can't rebuild that trust_."

Gadget gave a sob as he felt like his heart was breaking.

"But I _love _you!"

G2 reached out and touched the undamaged side of his face, stroking his cheek gently as she looked at him with compassion in her eyes.

"And I love you too." She told him, "That is why we must end our marriage. Otherwise this infidelity will always come between us and eventually we won't like each other any more- I never want to stop being your friend, Gadget. I want us to part on good terms and stay on good terms and not just for Grace and Alice- for _us_, for the fact that we _should_ remain friends, because I could never bear for us to get to the point where love and friendship turns into hate."

Gadget took in a shaky breath as he wiped his eyes.

"But I don't even _want_ Alicia! She knew that, she knew I'd never be with her even when she got released! Please give me another chance; I'll never make a mistake like this again!"

"Gadget," She said calmly, "This is difficult. But I am trying to make this as simple as possible for both our sakes. I wasn't going to talk to you about this until you were recovered but now you know it's probably best if I start looking for somewhere else to live. I'll stay in Riverton, I'll bring the kids over to see you all the time and I'll make every effort to make sure we stay friends. But that's _all _I can give you, Gadget. This wasn't a one night stand you had with her – it went on for _five_ years. _That is why I feel its best that we separate_."

As the machine bleeped, Gadget felt G2 turn the tube and gently withdraw it from its connection and then she closed the valve on his body plate.

"It _will_ be okay." She promised him, "Things will be different from now on but it's for the best. We _will _stay friends - I couldn't allow us to lose our friendship -that will _never_ happen."

Then she got up, briefly squeezed his shoulder and then walked out of the room, leaving him alone as he tearfully reflected on every mistake he had ever made- _starting with the day he had first kissed Alicia- and ending today, with a call on a phone that was now lying silent on the table..._

* * *

A short while later, still feeling sore from the aching wound that was covered by the body plate, Gadget got up and buttoned up his shirt, covering the source of the pain and wishing he could make the discomfort fade with the same amount of ease as he could hide it from view.

Then he put on his hat and trench coat and went outside and got into the Gadget Mobile.

The car woke up with a jolt and spoke in surprise:

"I thought you were supposed to be resting, Gadget!"

"Right now I need to be working." He said sadly, "Me and G2 just broke up."

"_What?"_ Gadget Mobile exclaimed, "But you were the G team once upon a time, you and her against Dr Claw-"

"That was a long time ago." Gadget replied, "And she's found out about Alicia. You were right, Gadget Mobile. The house of cards _did_ come tumbling down."

Gadget felt an ache in his heart as he spoke again.

"_I've lost everything."_

"I'm sorry, Gadget." The car said, "I wish there was something I could do to help."

"There isn't." Gadget replied, "She's looking for somewhere else to live. She's taking the kids and she's leaving. Now I think I'd better try and get on with some police work before I go crazy. Take me over to the Mayor's house."

"Okay." The car said, "And I'll be sure to remember the bumps in the road, I'm guessing you're still feeling sore."

Gadget gave a sigh.

"Right now I can barely notice it." He replied, "I just know my heart is broken."

And the car started up and Gadget headed off towards the home of Mayor Wilson.

* * *

When Gadget reached the driveway leading to the Mayor's home, the car slowed to a halt a short distance away from the area where rubble was being cleared.

The wrecked part of the house was heavily draped over and the rest of the house was covered with scaffolding while construction workers began to repair the damage.

Gadget sat in silence in the Gadget Mobile as he looked at the damage.

"Are you okay, G Man?" The car asked him.

Gadget was still looking at the partly destroyed mansion.

"I can't believe I survived that." He said quietly, "I can't believe _anyone _survived that level of damage!"

"Well it was you who got everyone out!" Gadget Mobile reminded him, "You were a hero! And if you want to talk about damage, what happened to that building is _nothing_ to what happened to _me_ – I got a broken fender and a cracked wind shield, chips to my paintwork –"

"_Got some scars, did you?"_ Gadget said.

And the car remembered the metal plate that covered half of Gadget's face.

"Sorry Gadget! I didn't mean it like that –"

"I know." Gadget replied, getting out of the car and giving the door a pat, "No offence taken."

Then he walked towards the entrance of the house, where the doors were wide open and Mayor Wilson stood talking with a secretary and her PA as she held out an open map of the house.

"So this part is fine, this is the area I'm living in and this part will have to be my new office until the house is repaired-"

She stopped right there, staring as Gadget walked towards her, he was walking rather stiffly as he kept a hand pressed to the middle of his body and as he looked up and shadow no longer hid one side of his face, she saw it was covered with a metal plate.

Mayor Wilson blinked spidery eyelashes and smiled, trying not to stare.

"Inspector Gadget!" She said warmly, "It's so good to see you again! Did you get my flowers?"

"Yes I did, thank you." He replied, thinking about this little arrangement with her that was now thankfully cancelled because he was planning one last visit to Alicia- to tell her they were over – and he wouldn't be needing any more favors from the Mayor after that...

"Can I do anything to help?" She wondered, looking at him with compassion in her eyes that he wished he hadn't noticed.

"Actually I'm here on police business."

She frowned.

"The Chief didn't mention anything about you being fit for duty yet."

"Well I'm not, its unofficial. I just wondered if I could take a look around what's left of the ballroom."

"Of course, it's all been made secure in there. But I don't think you'll find anything, the police have already been through the wreckage."

"But it won't hurt to take a look."

She smiled.

"Of course, go right ahead. And it's good to have you back, Gadget."

"Thanks." He replied, trying to ignore the fact that the women stood beside Mayor Wilson were staring at his face, then he turned to walk off in the direction of the ballroom.

As he walked away he heard them begin to talk in low voices.

"That's Inspector Gadget?" One of them said.

"Yes, that's him," The other woman whispered, "Oh my God, did you see the state of his _face?_"

And Gadget walked faster, pulling his hat down a little further, wising he could hide the metal plate that covered half his features.

By the time he reached the ballroom, now darkened and lit by a dim bulb that had been hung on the ceiling, he looked around at the wreckage, recalled the timer hitting zero and put his hand to the metal plate he wore on his face as tears filled his eyes.

_It was hard enough to look in the mirror each day and see the mask._

_It was even harder to hear the reaction of other people, to deal with their stares..._

Suddenly a lot of thoughts went through his mind and none of them were good:

_He only had to look around at what was left of this room to see the destruction the Riverton Bomber had caused._

_In the same way, the bomber had wrecked his life, too._

He couldn't blame the bomber for the end of his marriage – he knew that was his own fault, a chain of events that had started long ago when he had made the bad decision to keep on seeing Alicia...

_But the bomber had damaged him and unlike the Mayor's house, that damage couldn't be repaired._

_Sure, in time the metal plates would come off._

_He'd eat normally again, he'd have no pain._

_His face would look just fine, too – but that nerve damage was forever and even though the last thing on his mind was making love with any one right now, he suddenly couldn't see a day coming when anyone would ever want him again..._

Of course everything had been more difficult as far as relationships went before he had undergone the upgrade and the reconstruction, but things had been different back then – in those days, before the explosion, he had been confident.

_Now he felt as if he would never be confident again, not on the inside._

He wiped his eyes as he thought about how much that bomb had taken away from him, about how much damage the Riverton Bomber had done to his life, about how he felt sure he would feel this way for the rest of his life- then he took a deep breath and wished his gadget mode was back online, but it was still off so all he could do was take a careful walk around the place, looking over the rubble, understanding now what Penny had meant about how everything was destroyed – there was nothing left here, no clues to go on at all.

Then Gadget checked his hat was down low over the masked side of his face and he left the ballroom, walked quickly from the Mayor's house and headed back to the Gadget Mobile, wanting nothing more than to get away from this place; _ he just wasn't ready for the memories to come back to him of the moment that timer hit zero and the bomb went up and took half his life with it..._

* * *

G2 was not in the mood for visitors when she heard the knock at the door.

She had not planned to confront Gadget over Alicia for quite a while yet; she had intended to stay with him, to ensure that he made a full recovery, because on the scale of things, nothing mattered more than the fact that he got over the bombing.

But his phone call to Alicia had changed everything and now there was no way to get around it; everything had been there, out in the open and although she felt better in the sense that there were no more secrets, it did nothing to kill the ache in her heart.

There was another knock at the door and G2 gave a sigh and decided to answer it no matter how she was feeling, because that second knock had been quite insistent – _who ever was calling was determined to get an answer..._

G2 opened the door and looked in surprise at the visitor; Taylor Braydon was the very last person who she had expected to see on her doorstep after the way his wife had tried to blackmail Gadget...

He smiled as he looked at her.

"Hi!" He said brightly, "I hope you don't mind me stopping by."

G2 blinked and carried on staring at him.

"After the way your wife tried to blackmail my husband I'm surprised you would want to pay a visit to this house again. What do you want?"

Taylor hesitated, noticing her frosty tone and feeling unsure how to explain.

"Well," He said, "I don't always agree with the things that Delia does. She said if we told people we knew their secrets we would most likely get their loyalty after I won the election. But I'm not standing for election any more, I changed my mind! I want Mayor Wilson to keep her job."

And he looked at her nervously, wondering if she might start yelling at him like his wife often did.

"I don't like doing mean things to anyone." He said honestly, "And when I heard about the bombing, I wanted to help. I also want to make up for what Delia did last time she came over. I'd like to help you and your husband if I can. I know Inspector Gadget was badly hurt. How is he?"

And G2 looked into Taylor's eyes, saw a well meaning but slightly dumb expression and she smiled; _Taylor seemed nothing like his wife at all..._

"Gadget's gone out for a drive." She told him, and then she stepped back and opened the door wider.

"Please come in..."

Taylor's face lit up in a big smile.

"Thanks!" He said warmly, following her into the house.

G2 shut the front door and led him through to the front room, where he sat down on the sofa.

She sat on Gadget's favourite armchair and smiled at her guest; she could see it for certain now - Taylor was _definitely_ nothing like his wife. Sure, he wasn't too bright, but one look in his eyes told her he was actually a very nice guy – he was the total opposite of everything Delia Braydon was...

"It's very kind of you to offer to help." G2 said to him, "And I heard about you putting up a reward to catch the Riverton Bomber. That was a very kind thing to do too."

Taylor thought about the bombing and his eyes clouded with sadness.

"Well I had to do something – that guy's _got_ to be caught!" He exclaimed, "If I was a crime fighter like your husband I'd be out there trying to catch him too! I wish I could do more to help."

Then he looked at the machine next to the sofa.

"What's that?" He wondered.

"My husband had a stomach injury in the bombing." G2 told him, "He can't eat until it's healed. He has to be tube fed."

"That must be so hard to deal with." He said, "I think Gadget's a brave guy. I don't think I would be so brave if it was me. I can't imagine going through all the stuff he's been through."

G2 smiled as she thought of her husband and then she felt an ache in her heart that refused to go away.

"Yes, he is a brave man." She agreed, "Very brave."

Taylor smiled.

"I was thinking, when all this is over and Gadget's caught the bomber – _and_ when he's better –maybe you and your family might like to go on vacation. I've got a lovely place on a private beach and you can have it for the whole summer if you want it."

G2 smiled back at him.

"That's a very kind offer." She said to him, but then her smile faded as she thought about the facts that Taylor was not aware of.

"Actually me and my husband are separating." She told him, "It's..." and she paused, wording it carefully, "Something that's been coming for a long while. We're still friends and we always will be but we won't be staying together."

Taylor's eyes filled with concern.

"I'm so sorry to hear that."

"And I'm actually planning to look for a new place to live –in Riverton, I'm not going far away from Gadget because I don't mean to put a distance between him and me or the kids, but it really is best if we make a new start."

Then Taylor's face lit up with a goofy smile that made his eyes sparkle and by now G2 had come to like his happy expression.

"I've got an idea!" He exclaimed, "I've got another house- it's a big three bedroom place near the town. I used to live there but my wife said the place was too small, Delia likes big houses. So it's been empty for more than a year. You and the kids could move in any time you like."

"That sounds like a good idea." She said, then she wondered about something.

"How much is the rent?"

"Don't worry about that." Taylor said to her, "You can stay there for free, for as long as you want to!"

G2 stared at him.

"Are you sure about that?"

He was still smiling.

"Of course I am!" He exclaimed, "I'm rich, I don't need the rental money – and I _like_ making people happy!"

As she looked into his eyes, she felt sure Taylor was being totally honest with her – and she could see how it had been only too easy for a woman like Delia to sink her claws into him and his money...

"That's a very kind offer." She told him, "But we should pay you something-"

Taylor held his hand up.

"No," He said, "I won't hear of it. You and your husband are breaking up – and Gadget's got a lot to deal with, if I give you a place to stay he won't have to worry about paying for this house _and _your new one. It'll take some of the pressure off him. I guess that could help him out in a way."

And G2 smiled again.

"You're..."

She paused, stopping herself just in time from saying he was not as dumb as first seemed, and she quickly reworded it: "You're actually quite a smart guy – and immensely kind too!"

He smiled back at her and then his smile faded as he thought of Delia.

"I wish my wife would say that to me. All she ever does is yell at me, I can't seem to do anything right! I try, but I just keep getting it wrong!" He told her.

Then he got up and handed her his card.

"Give me a call when you want to move in - and be sure to let Gadget know I'd love to stop by and visit him. Tell him if there's anything I can do to help, he's only got to ask and it's done, okay?"

G2 smiled back at him.

"Thank you Taylor." She said brightly, feeling a little happier to think there were still some genuinely nice people out there in the world who wanted to do some good.

She walked him to the door and said goodbye.

He went down the path, gave her a wave, stumbled over a crack in the path and quickly straightened up again, then got into his car.

As he drove away she looked down at his business card.

"What a nice man." She remarked, then she closed the door again.

* * *

Delia stood alone in the garage as she slid manicured hands over the small black box she held carefully in her grip.

She cautiously lifted the lid and inspected the workings... this was just an experiment; this was _not_ for the big explosion she was planning, the one that would _really_ confuse the police...

This was a small device that she had made up to experiment with, to make sure the quantity of explosive was right this time... It was enough to blow a crater in the ground and that was what she was planning to do after nightfall, when Taylor was fast asleep in bed.

It would just be a matter of driving out to the woods and setting it off, then checking the damage was what she expected it to be.

_"Should be just like a landmine blast..." _She murmured as she reached for a cloth and carefully wiped off her prints.

Then she set the box on Taylor's workbench and turned away.

_And then Delia froze._

She stood there in her sleek silken dress, legs shaking in high heeled designer shoes as Taylor stared at her.

"What are you doing in the garage?" He wondered, "You don't like the garage, you're always saying it's full of junk..."

Delia forced a smile.

"I was just looking around." She told him.

Then Taylor smiled as his eyes lit up.

"I've got some good news about my old house!"

She was still smiling as her heart hammered violently and she hoped he didn't look down at the object on the bench.

"Have you really? Well let's go outside and talk about it, shall we?"

But Taylor just stood there.

"No, I want to tell you _right now!_" He exclaimed, "I've found someone to move into the house!"

"Well that's good." Delia remarked, "It's about time you stopped leaving it standing empty and started making cold hard cash out of it."

He was still smiling.

"Inspector Gadget's wife is moving in to it!" He told her, "They're breaking up so I said she could stay there for _free!_"

Her smile faded and anger glittered in her eyes.

_"For free?"_ She fumed, then she thought about the other aspect of what he had just said.

"Inspector Gadget's wife? _Inspector Gadget of Riverton Police?_"

He just nodded, missing the fact that the very thought of the police had put her on edge.

Then Taylor looked down at the box on the workbench. He saw the wires looped over the top of it, noticed the unlit timer and his eyes grew wide.

"What's that?" He said nervously.

Delia forced another smile.

"It's just an old alarm clock; I was trying to fix it."

And she carefully picked it up, using a cloth as she cautiously polished the box again.

As she looked up and saw the wary look in Taylor's eyes she felt a flicker of panic.

"If people saw you with that," He said, "They might even think _you're_ the Riverton bomber! That doesn't look at all like an alarm clock, Delia! It must be one of those novelty clocks that look just like a _real bomb!_"

Then he thought about the explosion at the Mayor's house and he frowned.

"I was scared the night that happened." He told her, "I saw it on the news and I was worried about you!"

"Me?" She wondered as she started to sweat.

"Of course I was!" He exclaimed, "Because you went out that night. I remember..."

He thought about it.

"Where _did_ you go?"

Delia looked down at the box.

As her hand moved beneath the cloth she hit the control and the timer lit up in red digital numbers and the box began to bleep.

_She didn't want to look in his eyes, all she knew was he had become a liability and now it was too late because she had thought about it and done it and that timer was activated now..._

"Taylor," She said, "Could...could you take a look at this for me? Maybe you can get it working for me..."

She barely glanced at him as he smiled a dumb and trusting smile and took it from her.

"Sure!" He said enthusiastically, "I'll see what I can do with it, I _love_ taking stuff apart!"

_It was in his hands._

_He was standing there turning the box over._

Delia drew in a tight breath.

"I'll make some us coffee." She stammered, and then she turned and began to walk away.

Her legs shook harder in her high heels as the _click-click_ of her steps grew faster, as she turned out of the garage door she broke into a run, stopping over by the lawn as her heart hammered against her chest.

She thought of Taylor and had a moment of regret.

"What have I done?" She said breathlessly, knowing in a horrible split second that she definitely had a change of heart.

"_Taylor!"_ She called out, _"Taylor!"_

Then there was a boom that blew out brick work and shattered glass and blew her off her feet and into a flower bed.

Delia dragged herself out of dirt and crushed flowers and turned to see a gaping hole at the back of the garage and smoke was pouring out of it.

For a moment she froze, staring in shock at the consequences of her crazy decision to get rid of him because the thought had crossed her mind that he had seen too much.

_Smoke was still pouring out of the garage and the pathway was littered with rubble._

_She kept on looking at that hole caused by the blast and saw no movement within._

Delia dragged in a breath and gave a sob.

"_TAYLOR!"_ She screamed, knowing for sure she had just made a huge mistake...


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

Gadget opened the front door and went inside, closing it again feeling glad to be home.

Even though he knew G2 was leaving him, it was still good to be home after spending time in the wreckage of the ballroom where it had brought back such terrible memories.

Brain ran up to greet him and Gadget patted his head.

G2 came out from the kitchen.

She had Alice in her arms and as he looked at her his heart ached again at the thought of his wife leaving and taking the kids.

This house would soon be empty; _he had never imagined his own actions no matter how foolish, could have led to this..._

"I went over to the Mayor's house." He said, "I wanted to see if I could find any clues but Penny was right – the place was a wreck, there was nothing left to find."

"Taylor Braydon came over." She told him, "He was something of a surprise – nothing at all like his wife. He's looking for someone to move into an empty property that he owns and I mentioned I was looking for somewhere to live. He said he wants me and the kids to move in rent free- to help _you_ out. He wants to see you, too. He's very keen to do anything he can to help. And he's genuinely sorry about Delia trying to blackmail you. Its surprising how some people can turn out."

Gadget thought about Delia's dim husband and guessed he shouldn't feel too surprised at his generosity – he had seemed quite clueless about her ruthless streak when she had come over for dinner...

"That's nice of him." He said quietly, "I'll be sure to thank him for being so generous."

Then the phone rang in the hallway.

Gadget's mind was full of thoughts of how lonely this place would be when G2 left.

"Go go Gadget arm." He said, not remembering that his Gadget mode was still off.

Then a light blinked at the back of his eye and relayed a message at the same time his hand extended from his wrist and shot out and picked up the phone: _Gadget Mode On_...

Gadget laughed and so did G2.

"I've got it back!" He exclaimed.

"That's wonderful!" G2 said, feeling genuinely happy that his gadget mode was working, he had seemed so lost without it...

Gadget was still smiling as he answered the call.

"Inspector Gadget here." He said, sounding brighter all of a sudden, "Available for duty!"

"_Gadget,"_ The Chief said, sounding serious_, "I hope you mean that..."_

And Gadget's smile faded and so did G2's as she realized this was _not_ good news...

"What's happened, Chief?" He asked him.

And as Quimby explained, the undamaged side of Gadget's face grew almost as pale as the mask he wore to cover his healing injury.

"I'm on my way." He said quietly and he put the phone down again and turned to his wife.

"There's been another bombing." He told her, "I have to go."

And then Gadget was heading for the door again.

G2 thought about the damage the bomber had already caused him and felt a spike of fear run through her.

"_Gadget..."_

"I have to go, G2."He said again, and then he was out the door and heading for the Gadget Mobile.

G2 stood there holding Alice in her arms thinking of nothing now but Gadget's safe return.

"_Please be careful..."_ She whispered.

* * *

A short while later the Gadget Mobile screeched to a sharp halt outside Riverton Hospital.

Gadget glanced around and guessed he hadn't been expecting to be back here so soon, and not under _these_ circumstances...

He got out of the car and hurried up the steps to the entrance, cautiously clutching at his aching body as he felt a pain that served as a sharp reminder that he was far from healed and fit for duty.

The Chief was waiting for him at the entrance.

"What happened?" He asked him, "Are you sure it's the same bomber? I mean, last time it was the Mayor's party and this time it's a single target..."

Chief Quimby nodded.

"Same device type, we already know that. But this one was on a much smaller scale- but God knows, it's done it's job..."

And he fell silent for a moment as he thought about the man caught up in the explosion.

"How is he?" Gadget wondered, thinking about Taylor and recalling how kind he had been to G2.

They turned and walked into the hospital and Gadget walked beside Quimby as they headed for the elevator.

"He's critical. "Quimby told him.

The doors opened and they got into the elevator and Quimby hit a button and the doors closed again.

As Gadget thought about his own experience of being the victim of the bomber, he found he could imagine everything happening just how the Chief said it did, but with too much clarity, bringing his own painful memories far too close for comfort...

"_It looks like the device was planted in the garage. Taylor found it..."_

The elevator was climbing now.

"_He didn't know what the hell it was, so he picked it up..."_

Suddenly it was too hot in the elevator and Gadget kept his gaze on the buttons, watching as they lit up one by one as the elevator climbed floors.

The Chief was still talking.

"_And it went off while he was holding it."_

Gadget drew in a sharp breath as he grabbed his tie and loosened it, feeling as if all the air had been sucked from the elevator... _an elevator that suddenly seemed to be getting smaller by the minute as he recalled a timer hitting zero..._

"Are you alright, Gadget?" The Chief wondered.

The doors opened and Gadget took in a breath.

He turned his face and the light caught harsh on the mask that covered half of it.

"I'm fine." He said in a low voice as a trickle of sweat ran down the undamaged side of his face.

They walked along the corridor and Gadget glanced over at the doors that led through to the next building; the ICU was right next to the corridor that led through to the cybernetics lab and as he thought about how he had only recently spent so much time there after the bombing, Gadget felt as if every injury suffered in that blast came back to haunt him with vivid clarity. He was sure he had seen enough and experienced enough to know that what the bomb had done to him had been terrible.

_At least, he thought that until he saw Taylor Braydon._

Two cops were standing near his bed and the Chief went over and spoke to them.

Gadget was still standing by Taylor's bed looking at what was left of his shattered body. Taylor was deeply unconscious and breathing through a tube, his lower body seemed unharmed and Gadget saw at a glance that his upper body had taken the damage from the blast. His throat and upper chest were heavily bandaged and his left arm was gone at the shoulder.

His right arm was also covered by a heavy dressing and as Gadget looked down he realized there was nothing below his wrist; his hand had been blown off, too..

Gadget blinked back tears as he recalled Taylor as he remembered him, then the Chief was talking to him again.

"I've been waiting around, hoping he might regain consciousness in case he can tell us anything – but the doctor said there's not much chance of that, they don't think they can do much more for him now. His wife is in a real mess..."

Then as Gadget heard a familiar voice, he looked back to Taylor's bedside to see Delia Braydon in a tense conversation with... _Lula?_

Delia's eyes were red and her make up was streaked with tears and as she glared at Lula Smith her voice trembled.

"No!" She said sharply, "There is _no_ way I will allow you to do that to him! You can't do it without my permission, I'm his wife! Look at him, he's suffering..."

And then she gave a sob.

"_Leave him alone, he's been through enough, he's dying!"_

But Lula stood her ground and held up Taylor's medical file.

"Actually it's _not_ up to you, Mrs Braydon." She informed her, opening the file and taking a card from it.

Delia stared at it as Lula read out the statement that he had signed a long time ago, agreeing to a decision she knew nothing about.

"It says clearly, _'In the event of an accident that is disabling or life threatening I confirm I wish to make use of cybernetic technology to save, lengthen or improve my life' – signed, Taylor Braydon. _This is his choice, Mrs Braydon. Right now conventional medicine can't do anything else for him but cybernetic technology _may_ give him a chance to survive."

Delia was still feeling shock and confusion as she looked at her husband who was fighting for his life, then she looked back at Lula.

"What are you proposing to do to him?"

"We can introduce living metal into his bones; it will spread throughout his body and heal the trauma. We can probably save his arm this way and we can replace the other one and give him a new hand. He's going to need major chest surgery but if he survives the introduction of the living metal into his body he _will _make it."

Delia was shaking as she looked around and saw Inspector Gadget standing there, half his face covered with a metal plate and then she glared at Lula.

"_You want to turn him into a machine?"_ She said tearfully, "Something like..._like him?_"

As she spoke she looked right at Gadget, staring at his face mask.

And he looked away as her words hurt far deeper than he cared to show.

"_Sorry Gadget."_ He heard Lula say, and then she turned back to Delia.

"The Inspector is wearing a protective mask until he recovers from facial injuries – it's _not_ permanent! And your husband will be every bit as human as you remember him – we _don't_ turn people into machines! Your husband wants this chance at life and he's getting it."

Delia blinked away tears as medical staff prepared to move his bed out of ICU and into the cybernetics building.

"Just tell me one thing." She demanded, "Will he remember anything?"

Lula shook her head.

"I don't know." She told her honestly, "He will probably regain most of his memories but I can't say if he will ever be able to recall the explosion. Now I have to get him ready for surgery. You really should come through to the lab and wait for news because I can't promise you he will survive the procedures he needs to go through."

Then she walked away as Taylor's bed was moved from the room.

Delia stared after him, then she gave a sob and sat down again looking at the empty space where his bed had been standing.

Chief Quimby lowered his voice as he spoke to Gadget.

"We're heading back to the Police Department. Could you stay and talk to Taylor's wife? I know she's distraught but as you've been through cybernetic procedures it might help if she listens to you. She's in no shape to give her account as a formal statement yet I think she's in shock – but you never know, you might turn something up."

Gadget nodded.

"I'll try, Chief."

The Chief patted him on the back.

"Thanks, Gadget." He said quietly, then he nodded to his men and then Quimby and the two cops left the room.

* * *

For a moment there was nothing but silence as Gadget glanced at Delia Braydon and he realized she was sitting there staring at him.

He looked away as he spoke to her.

"I'm really sorry about your husband." He said quietly, "He's a really kind guy, a nice guy. I know that's true because today my wife told me about the house he was offering her- did he tell you about that?"

"_Yes he did." _

Delia's voice was barely above a whisper as she thought about Taylor, thought about what had happened and her heart filled with more regrets than she dared to voice aloud.

"I've got the keys right here." She said as she reached into her purse and pulled out a large keying and started to run through the many keys, before finding the right ones and disconnecting them, "I keep all the keys to his properties. He needs me to; he's always forgetting things, losing things..."

"Are you sure about this?" He wondered as she held the keys out.

Delia nodded.

"I want her to move into the house. It's what Taylor wanted, so please take the keys. Taylor wanted her to have them - so she _should_ have them. He was kind like that. _He was kind_..."

And her voice broke up and she gave a sob as she pressed the keys into Gadget's hand.

Then she stared at Gadget as a mechanical hand extended from his hat and offered her a handkerchief.

She reached out and took it and wiped her eyes.

"Thank you." She said cautiously, and as Gadget looked into her eyes she suddenly thought about the bombing, about the damage and the deaths and she wanted to say it, to come out and say she had never meant for _any _of this to happen...

Delia wondered if she was losing her mind as she reached up and touched the metal that covered one side of his face.

She knew she was speaking, her mouth was jumping ahead of her thoughts and she couldn't pull it back now...too much had gone wrong.

_She hadn't intended any of this to happen, she had never really meant to hurt him, not Taylor..._

"I'm sorry about your face." She said as tears ran from her eyes, "I'm _so_ sorry you've been through so much_. I read about it in the newspaper, the damage that bomb did to you and that was when I realized how much harm, how much destruction_ –"

Gadget looked at her sympathetically, reasoning the woman was in shock over her husband.

"You don't have to apologize" He said gently, recalling what she had said about his face moments before, "It was a shock to find out your husband wanted cybernetic treatment in the event of an accident. A lot of people still don't understand it because it's a new technology. But it's very advanced these days – a lot more than when I became a cyborg. I was the first, I was the prototype."

And he took hold of her hand and helped her from her seat, then he stepped back from her.

"We ought to go through to the lab, we don't know if Taylor's going to make it. You need to wait in there."

Delia looked at the doors that led to the corridor beyond and then she nodded.

"_I'll do that."_ She said quietly.

They went through the door together and began to walk up a long corridor.

"_This never should have happened!"_ She said suddenly, bringing a manicured hand to her mouth as she stifled another sob, _"Oh God, why did it turn out like this?"_

Gadget steered her over to awaiting area where she sat down and he sat beside her.

"I know this is not the best time," Gadget told her, "And I know the Chief said he doesn't need a statement from you until tomorrow, but if there's anything you can tell me about what happened it could be useful. Can you think of anything? Did you hear or see anything?"

And Delia looked into his eyes again.

She gave another sob.

"_I'm so sorry!"_ She said again, _"And I never thought about it, I never knew how much I cared about him...not until..."_

She stopped, thinking about the words that would form her confession.

But Gadget just gently patted her arm.

"I know it's all been a terrible shock." He said kindly, "And don't even _think_ about all that stuff about you trying to blackmail me – I can see you were desperate to get Taylor everything he wanted, of course you did – _you love him_."

More tears ran from her eyes.

"I _do_ love him!" She said tearfully_," I wish I'd never...I...I mean what I did, I did a terrible thing and I can't change it, I can't make it turn out differently..."_

Gadget stopped her yet again.

"Delia," He said, "I'm not even thinking about how you planned to help Taylor get those in a position of influence behind him if he'd won the election. That doesn't matter any more! _There is a maniac out there who killed fourteen people – almost fifteen; I only survived because I'm part cyborg. And he's done a terrible thing to your husband, too. I need to find the bomber so I can put him in jail for the rest of his life and I will do that, I promise you! _So I need to know – what do you remember about what happened?"

And Delia's eyes grew wider.

Inspector Gadget's words had just cut through all her feelings of regret and reminded her just what was at stake:

_She had almost confessed, she had come so close to the edge..._

Delia sharply pulled back from that edge as she took in a deep breath.

"I was... I was in the house, I came out to find Taylor because he said he was planning to spend some time in the garage. The next thing I knew there was this big explosion..."

"You didn't see or hear anything unusual before that?" He asked her.

She wiped her eyes and shook her head, then she took her compact from her purse and snapped it open, dabbing at her face as she tried to salvage what she could of her tear streaked make up.

"I'm sorry I can't tell you any more, I just didn't see anything." She said, "All I know is my husband is injured and I don't want to lose him."

And she snapped the compact shut and blinked away more tears.

"Thank you for talking to me, Inspector." She said, "You've _really _helped put things into perspective for me."

Gadget patted the back of her hand.

"I'm glad I was able to help." He said to her, "And I'm sorry I can't stay, I'm not properly fit for duty yet and I need to go home and get some rest. But I'll call later on and be sure to ask how he's doing."

"Thank you." She said, managing a faint smile, "And be sure to give your wife the keys, Taylor wanted her to have the house, I want to make sure he gets his last wish."

"_He's still alive."_ Gadget reminded her, _"There's still hope."_

More tears formed in her eyes as she thought about what she had done, knowing she could tell no one.

"_As long as he stays alive I can live too."_ She whispered, and then she looked at the wall and became lost in her own thoughts.

He turned to walk back they way he came in and before he got half way up the corridor, he heard her sobbing quietly once more as she sat alone and waited for news on her husband. _But Gadget carried on walking, needing to get out of this place before the walls closed in on him as the recent memories of his own pain became too much to bear..._

* * *

On the way home Gadget called the Chief to tell him the news that there was no news – Delia Braydon knew nothing about the explosion.

Then he had gone home and explained everything to G2.

As the keys to Taylor's house were in his hand they felt heavy as he showed them to G2.

She blinked away tears and shook her head.

"No, I can't accept his offer under the circumstances. I'd rather wait until he's recovered..._if_ he recovers." She had said, and then Gadget had made a decision:

_It was partly because of everything that had happened, making him think about how life had turned out and how much everyone close to him actually meant. He didn't want be selfish ever again, not when it came to choices affecting those he loved..._

"I want you to stay here." He told her, "Keep the house, at least for now. Then later on if Taylor recovers and you still want to take up his offer, that's up to you. You can do what ever you want, I don't mind, I just don't want to make a selfish decision ever again in my life."

G2 had said nothing in reply as she hugged him tightly.

Then Gadget had felt exhausted and lay back on the sofa and closed his eyes.

_And as he woke up, G2 was standing over him and the morning sunlight was coming through the window._

"I would have woken you up before," She told him, "But you were so tired yesterday even Grace couldn't wake you when she came in to say goodnight. She tried, she was patting your hand and calling you but you just turned over and carried on sleeping."

Gadget sat up sharply, reaching down to press against the metal that covered the middle of his body, then he let go again as he felt mildly surprised that it didn't hurt, and that was the first time since the explosion he had been free of pain, too...

But then he pushed that thought aside as he recalled the events of the day before.

"I was asleep all night? I need to call the hospital and find out how Taylor's doing –"

"I already did." G2 told him, "He made it. He's heavily sedated and he's being kept on life support for the next seven days but Lula said he's going to recover. "

As she said that she smiled, but then she thought about Taylor and the changes he would have to adjust to, her smile faded.

"Lula said he's had a lot of his upper body completely rebuilt. He's got some more procedures to have over the next few days, skin replaced and some cosmetic work done...I just hope he can accept what's happened to him."

"I hope he can too, it's going to be a shock." He replied, "But at least he's survived. And maybe he'll remember something about what led up to the explosion."

G2 frowned as she thought about it.

"It's strange." She remarked, "I'm thinking, a house as big as Taylor's, he must have good home security- and someone just walked in there and planted a bomb?"

Gadget gave a sigh.

"I don't understand it, G2. It's like this bomber is invisible!"

Then he thought about another matter that was heavy on his mind.

"I want to perfectly open about this." He said to her, "I'm going to Riverton prison. I'm speaking to Alicia and I'm explaining to her that our relationship is over. I just wanted you to know that because I have no intention of keeping secrets regarding that woman ever again."

G2 felt a wave of regret as she wished he had thought to apply some honesty sooner – because after five years of deception nothing could put the trust back into their marriage.

But she looked at him with understanding eyes and smiled.

"You didn't have to tell me that but thank you. I understand your reason for the gesture."

And as Gadget looked at her he saw nothing but understanding in her eyes and then he thought about his former lover- and got the feeling that Alicia wouldn't exactly be understanding when he told her the news that they were over...

* * *

Later on after spending time plugged into the machine and feeling surprised that the fluid didn't hurt any more as it hit his stomach, Gadget headed over to Riverton Prison.

"Good luck, Gadget!" The car said to him as he walked towards the prison entrance, and Gadget turned back and smiled.

"If she gives me a hard time I'll get Brain to bite her ankles!" He joked, and Brain just sat in the back seat of the car with his eyes wide as he wondered if Gadget was serious..._he didn't usually tell him to bite anyone..._

And then Gadget entered the prison, feeling sure in his heart and in his mind that this would be the very _last _time he ever came here to pay a visit to Alicia MacKenzie.

_But when he saw her, when the cell door closed behind him and she saw him standing there and he caught the look in her eyes, he felt an ache in his heart_.

She grabbed hold of him, clinging to him as she sobbed, her fingers crushing into his trench coat as she pressed her face heavy against his shoulder.

"I'm _so_ sorry!" She said tearfully, and then she reached up and touched the undamaged side of his face.

"Oh God, you look terrible!"

"Thanks a lot." He said quietly, finally finding the strength to carefully take hold of her and use enough pressure to force her to let go without damaging her fragile human flesh.

Alicia took a step back and ran her fingers through her dark hair, looking at him with confusion in her eyes.

"Don't push me away, I _love_ you!"

Gadget started to think about his wife and his children and how much this affair had actually cost him and the more he thought about it, the easier it was becoming to look her in the eye and remember exactly what she had done.

"I'm only here because I wanted to say this face to face." He told her, "I'm not a coward, I wouldn't just leave you in here and never say what has to be said. _This is the last time you'll ever see me. We're over_."

She stared at him as more tears filled her eyes.

"You don't mean that!"

Gadget was aware that Alicia was getting worked up and he had no intention of doing the same.

"Yes I do." He said to her, "I'm not saying what I did was right, I know I made a mistake, we never should have been together!"

Alicia's eyes were still clouded with confusion but her voice began to harden.

"_A mistake?_ How can you say what we shared was a mistake? You said you _loved_ me, Gadget!"

And she grabbed hold of him again, pulling him closer, refusing to let go.

_"You can't do this to me, you can't –"_

Alicia caught her breath as Gadget's hand switched in the blink of an eye and suddenly he was holding her firmly against the wall, where his fingertips had once been touching her face as he reached for her, now in their place metal pincers held her in a grip that wasn't hurting -but at the same time, it was causing pressure that stopped her from breaking free.

She drew in a sharp breath as resentment took over.

"Gadget, that thing reminds me of Claw –"

He held her there a little firmer, remembering that this had been impulsive, almost a glitch for his gadget mode to react the way it had and he knew he would have to get out of here soon or say _Gadget Mode Off_ before he really lost his temper and lived to regret it...

"What I did was wrong." He said in a low voice, "I _know _that! I never set out to deceive my wife, but I thought I loved you."

And as he held her there she saw a look in his eyes that said all love for her was gone.

"There is absolutely no chance I would ever hold you in my arms again and we certainly have no future together!" He said sharply, "It's not because you told my wife- _it's because you did it without thinking about my kids! _You wrecked my marriage without giving it a second thought! _Why_ would I want a future with someone who could do a thing like that?"

Then he glanced down at the metal that gripped her face and thought how much those pincers reminded him of Claw, too.

"Gadget Mode Off." He stated.

As his hand took on human appearance, his grip loosened and she drew in a breath as she glared at him.

"_Take your freak mutated cyborg hands off me!" _She yelled.

And as he looked at her he saw the same hate in her eyes that he had seen on the day they first met.

Gadget stood closer and put his hand over her mouth, silencing her as she looked at him with frightened eyes; _Gadget had never treated her this way before..._

"I was expecting all that anti cyborg garbage to come out of your mouth." He said quietly, "I guess it's your only weapon. But I _won't_ let it get to me. And by the way, if you keep talking like that and you say it loud enough you will _never_ get out of here, they will _never_ let you out, do you understand me?"

Alicia nodded and he took his hand off her mouth.

As he let go of her he stepped back and smoothed down his trench coat.

"I'm going now." He told her.

He turned his back and walked towards the cell door.

Her voice was suddenly filled with the kind of venom he hadn't heard for more than five years as she spoke again:

"_My father was right about your kind! He was telling the truth, men like you who marry their flesh to machine are evil! You belong in a reprocessing plant, you should be taken apart and recycled like the rest of your kind! You don't belong, you're not a part of the human race, of the human world –"_

Gadget turned back and as he looked into her eyes she fell silent.

"That's enough." He said quietly, "You're _not_ getting your daughter back. I won't even let you have access to her."

"_Grace is my child!"_ She yelled.

Gadget nodded.

"Yes she is." He agreed, "And thank God she's _nothing_ like you! She's an innocent child and I'm protecting her from you. She's _never_ going to get her mind filled with the kind of hatred and sick ideas your father put in your head, Alicia."

Then he knocked on the cell door and as it opened for him she spoke again, but this time, she sounded upset as a sudden thought came to mind:

_"What about my parole?"_

Gadget glanced back at her.

"_What about it?"_ He replied, then he turned away, stepped out of her cell and started walking, he kept walking without looking back as he headed out of the prison and back towards the Gadget Mobile, feeling as if no choice he could ever make regarding Alicia Mackenzie could ever really be right or fair...

_What about her parole hearing?_

_He just couldn't decide what to do. _

_Gadget had always believed in justice._

_It wasn't justice to keep her locked up for her father's crimes._

_Nor was it justice to keep her locked up because their relationship had gone wrong, although he was aware he had the power to do so if he wanted to._

_He guessed if people could keep their former lovers locked up to tidy up a messy love life the world would be an easier place- but it certainly wouldn't be a fair one..._

_He knew he wasn't like that, he wasn't cold hearted and he never wanted to see the day come when he lost his sense of compassion._

_But all the same he still did not know what to do about Alicia Mackenzie's parole hearing..._

Gadget drove away from Riverton Prison feeling as if a situation that should have been resolved easily had just turned into something that would weigh heavy on his conscience forever if he didn't decide carefully on how to deal with it, but the right thing to do wasn't something he could decide easily upon.

Then as he drove away from the prison, his phone rang, and on hearing Penny's voice his troubles seemed to lift and as he spoke to her the Gadget Mobile changed course and he headed towards her apartment, thankful that she had called - because she was the one person who he could really open his heart to right now...


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10

"_Maybe it's political."_

Penny's remark made Gadget stop and think; he had been sitting with Penny for almost an hour on the sofa, talking about how difficult it had been to end things properly with Alicia, and as she made her statement he wondered what she was referring to.

"You mean Alicia? Well I know her sentance doesn't reflect her crime, that's _always_ been political –"

"No, I mean about the _bomber_, Uncle Gadget!"

He stared at her.

"I never thought of it that way! But you don't seriously think_ Mayor Wilson_ would plant a bomb at her own party?"

Penny gave a sigh.

It had been years since she had needed to use her detective skills to help Gadget solve cases and she guessed she had better start remembering how to drop the right kind of hints so he could put the clues together;_ he was miles out right now..._

"Of course I'm not suggesting it's Mayor Wilson! Maybe Mayor Wilson had a crazy supporter who wanted to get rid of Taylor."

"But he pulled out of the election. And why the bomb at the Mayor's party?"

Penny frowned.

"I don't know." She admitted, "But if someone hated Taylor enough to blow him up why would they try and kill Mayor Wilson too? I guess that blows my theory out of the water."

Then Penny ran her fingers through her long hair and got up, checking the time.

"Okay," She said, mentally organizing herself, "I have to leave now and pick Maxie up from school. Then I have to drive him over to his friend's house because he's having a sleep over tonight. I'll be gone for about an hour."

Then as she turned to walk out of the room, she got a sudden idea and turned back to him.

"Uncle Gadget, I was thinking, with you and G2 separating and with her staying at the house, why don't you move in here for a while? I've got a spare room."

Gadget smiled.

"I couldn't think of anywhere else where I'd feel more at home. Thanks Penny, that's a great idea."

Penny snatched up her car keys.

"I'll see you soon."

She was walking out the door.

"Wait Penny –"

She turned back.

"What?" She wondered.

"Do you want me to pick Maxie up for you? I don't mind, I could drive him over to his friend's house."

Penny smiled.

"Uncle Gadget," She said kindly, "You were just telling me about twenty minutes ago how you're starting to feel better."

"Exactly, I want to be doing more, I'd like to help."

"No," Penny corrected him, "You're getting better. So you need to _rest_. I will pick up Maxie."

The she smiled at him fondly once more and left the room.

From where he was sitting Gadget watched her from the open doorway as she walked briskly down the hall in a short pale dress and for a moment he thought back to how beautiful she'd looked on her wedding day; _he still wondered why that had been his last thought as the timer had hit zero and the bomb had gone off..._

He could remember the teenage girl she used to be but that girl had been gone for a long time now. Penny was a beautiful woman now, grown up with a life of her own and a family and it seemed to have happened in the blink of an eye – he didn't know where time went, he just knew it went too fast and that beautiful woman who had just walked out the door was Penny, and it had just occurred to him how fast time flew by...

Then Brain, who had been drinking some water from his bowl in the kitchen that Penny always left out for him when he came to visit, decided to take a run up the stairs.

Gadget watched him race for the stairway and gave a sigh.

"No, Brain!" He called out, knowing what the dog was like for running into bedrooms and leaping on beds and messing up tidy sheets.

Then he got up to go and fetch him. As he got up he thought again about the pain that he expected to feel pulling at his aching stomach – but there was no pain.

Gadget made the most of that fact and hurried up the stairs, calling to his dog again.

* * *

Brain was having fun rolling over and over on Penny's bed.

He liked it in this room because it reminded him of back when she had been a teenager and he often slept at the bottom of her bed and she used to make such a fuss of him, hugging him, ruffling his fur and giving him hugs. Penny was grown up now but she still hugged him. And Brain, a dog who could not age thanks to advances in scientific technology, was glad she had a kid of her own now. Maxie was fun to play with – but not as much fun as Grace, Gadget's daughter who never tired of throwing sticks and balls for him to chase...

Penny's bed was soft.

Penny's bed was a mess, too as Brain rolled over and over watching as the room seemed to spin.

Beds were even more fun than sofas when it came to snuggling down deep and turning round and round to make that warm spot beneath him so he could sink into it and sleep like a puppy.

Then Brain's nose brushed against the pillow.

He stopped romping on the bed and sniffed again; looking curiously at that pillow... it smelled like..._Penny had been crying?_

Brain followed the scent and pushed his paw under the pillow, turning out a folded piece of paper.

He sniffed at it again and then raked it lightly with his paw.

As the paper unfolded, he dipped his head, ready to pick it up in his mouth so that he could give it back to her, or at least give it to Gadget. Penny had been crying, the dog was sure of it; her tears were all over this paper...

"_No!"_ Gadget scolded him, picking him up and setting him back down on the floor.

Then he carefully took the paper from his mouth.

"What are you doing, eating her shopping list?" He said to him.

Then with the paper still in his hand, Gadget straightened up the pillows and the covers, brushing off a few stray dog hairs.

Brain sat at his feet and looked up at him.

Gadget looked down at Brain as he pointed to the open door.

_"Downstairs!"_ He told him firmly.

Brain trotted out of the room.

Gadget glanced down at the paper and hoped Brain hadn't damaged something important.

Then he caught the first few lines, written in Penny's flowing handwriting.

He frowned as he began to read:

_"I have loved you from the day we first met?"_ He said aloud, then he wondered if Penny had been writing down her private thoughts about Max leaving her and he decided to fold the letter and put it... _where?_ He guessed under her pillow, because Brain had been romping all over the bed and it looked like that was where he'd found it...

Then as Gadget paused to neatly fold the paper, he caught the rest of the first sentance.

"'_At_ _first I loved you as my guardian and protector, my hero Uncle Gadget who saved me from Claw and kept this town free of crime?' "_

Gadget felt stunned as he realized the letter was to him...

_Penny was keeping a letter about him under her pillow?_

He wanted to fold the paper and leave it alone, but he couldn't, because as he caught the next few lines, he sat down heavily on the bed, reading them again because at first he had thought he'd read it wrong, but he had not:

'_Then later on,' _Penny had written_, ' as I grew up I loved you as my best friend, I came to love so much more about you because I noticed so much more when I became a woman and I looked at you through a woman's eyes. You are the best friend I cherish, your smile lights up my world and when you laugh I laugh with you and when you cry I share your tears. _

_I even love your silly glitches! There is no one else like you in this world, Gadget. And I will never know another man like you, even though I searched for you in every man I ever met – I even searched for you in my husband but I found no trace of you. I know now; I love you. I have loved you as the amazing man you are since before I even met Max.'_

Gadget still felt too stunned to do anything but read on:

'_I was around twenty when I looked at you through older eyes and when you turned to me in the Gadget mobile and said something – I can't remember what it was, but you made me laugh and you laughed too and I saw your eyes light up and we carried on down that road and I looked back at you and that was when I knew how deep in my heart you were. I never thought about it or considered the possibility that I could be in love with you because I didn't know the truth back then – but I do now, I know you are not related to me. I know it is okay for me to admit to myself that I love you._

_But I can never tell you that because I know you will not return my feelings. When I was a little girl I used to read Cinderella and dream about one day meeting my prince- but then I grew up and I found out there are no princes, dreams do not come true and that is just the way life is because life is like that, life is unfair._

_But I do love you, Gadget. I love you with all my heart.'_

He wiped a tear from his eye and took in a deep breath.

_Penny had written these words about him?_

_Why had she done that?_

He thought back to the explosion, his last thought had been her.

_Maybe the explosion had made her think about how she felt..._

_She loved him?_

_Penny?_

_Penny was in love with him?_

He read the last words of the letter.

"_Life is unfair?"_ He wondered aloud.

Then he felt an ache deep in his heart as he gave a sob and clutched the paper tighter:

_It wasn't as if he brought her up from the day she was born._

She had come into his life as a teenager and soon that girl was gone and she had become a young woman who he had come to think of as the closest friend he had ever had.

It was still turning around in his mind...

_Penny?_

_He wasn't her real uncle._

_And their relationship had been a rock solid friendship, it always had been._

_Penny was the one person he was sure of who would never leave him, she was always there and...She loved him?_

The thought of it terrified him:

_Why not Penny? _

_Despite all that had happened in his life he knew for sure that if they were together their love could only grow into something amazing, something so beautiful it would shine brighter than the sun, and it would change his life forever and..._

Gadget blinked away tears.

_It would be so beautiful, so precious, yet so fragile if it went wrong it would tear his life into pieces:_

_That was the kind of love that was all or nothing, to live without it would kill him as sure as she had smashed his heart and shattered it like glass if it went wrong..._

_That was the thought that terrified him._

_It was too deep, too big, too much to think about..._

But Gadget had thought about it and he knew the truth:

_Yes, he loved her too._

_He had never thought about it before._

_He had been in love more than once in his life. He knew what love felt like._

_But he had never felt a love like this; the thought of Penny, that beautiful woman who was so close to him, his dearest friend, the thought of loving her and letting that love grow was a different kind of love to anything he had ever known before._

_It was all powerful._

_It was all consuming and it slid into his awareness so naturally it seemed as if this day had been written in stone, as if destiny had mapped out this moment as sure as the truth could have been written in the stars..._

A brief flicker of this emotion had scraped against his heart on the day of her wedding when he had seen her in her wedding dress and she had looked like an angel.

But he had pushed that thought swiftly aside and got on with life.

Now he could see it, he could see it and he knew the truth:

_And it scared him to even think he could dare to love that deeply, that if he gave this woman his heart he may as well place his life within her hands..._

"_I love you too."_ He whispered, then he folded the letter, put it in his pocket and wiped his eyes, determined not to let Penny know what he had discovered, because he didn't know if he could ever speak of this.

As he went back down the stairs, the thoughts were still going through his mind:

_Penny?_

_Penny loved him?_

* * *

Taylor was lying on his back with sheets covering the lower half of his body.

His eyes were closed and he was breathing deeply, he was still sedated but now the tube was gone from his throat and he was breathing unaided, although he was surrounded by a vast amount of equipment that monitored every signal from his body.

That body looked very different to the shattered one that Delia had seen before his surgery.

Taylor's arms had been replaced. She could not see a scar or even a join where the new limbs had been fitted, but his upper arms seemed more toned and as she looked at his chest she blinked away tears, seeing a wide strip of metal that ran from his throat down to his lower chest, on this metal were set a series of small micro chips that were implanted.

Delia reached out and gently touched his hand, closing her fingers over it as she realized he still felt very much human after all...

He was still in the cybernetics department but now he had been moved to a private room and sitting here with him, knowing that he wouldn't be conscious for several days, Delia began to speak, saying the things she knew she could never say when he was awake, because Taylor would _not_ understand, as kind as he was, he would _never_ understand the truth...

"I'm _so_ sorry." She said to him, fixing her gaze on his closed eyes as her heart ached and she regretted so much, _"Taylor I've done some terrible things."_

And she drew in another breath and suddenly the urge to confess was too great, because she was alone with him, he couldn't hear her and the words just came tumbling out:

"I never loved you when I married you." She said sadly, "I saw you, this stupid guy with more money than brain cells and I thought you'd be a perfect meal ticket. I'm sorry but I did, because I'm like that and you were so easy to deceive..."

And her grip tightened on his hand as she fought back tears. "But then I got to know you and I started to care about you and I know I never treated you the way you deserved to be treated but oh sweetheart, I _do_ love you!"

Delia took a shaky breath as her eyes glazed with tears and she blinked, letting them trickle down her face, not caring if what was left of her make up looked a mess any more.

It was there, heavy in her heart and she could bear the weight no longer.

"Taylor," She said as she kept hold of his hand, "It's all my fault, everything is. You were so easy to manipulate. That's why I decided to make sure you won the election. I wanted to make Mayor Wilson look like a liar, she was always saying Riverton was such a safe place to live...so I made the device but I put too much explosive in and I didn't know it and..."

She paused, fighting back the urge to cry all over again.

"_...And that's why fourteen people died! It wasn't supposed to happen that way, it was supposed to be big bang and blow out some windows... but I made a mistake! Then when you started asking questions I had this crazy moment, I thought you were going to get me caught! I knew I regretted it the minute I put the bomb in your hands! I tried to call out to warn you but it was too late..."_

And she focussed on his face, watching his closed eyes as she reached out and gently touched his cheek.

"I'm sorry." She said, "I'm so very, very sorry I hurt you. I can never tell you how much I regret that..."

And she swept her hand over his hair and then spoke again, knowing she could never say these words to him a second time, not once he was awake...

"_I'm the Riverton Bomber."_ She stated, "The police think they're looking for a man, they think only a man could do something as terrible as this. They're wrong. _It's me!_ I'm sorry, I didn't mean for any of it to happen. But I have to show them I'm not an amateur; I have to throw them off the scent once and for all. _One more explosion, a big one...and then_ ..."

And she managed a smile.

"And then I'll spend the rest of my life loving you the way you deserve to be loved. I don't care how much machinery you have inside you, I still love you and I will show you that every single day! The doctor said she thinks you won't remember anything leading up to the explosion and that's good because it means I won't have to lie to you and tell you the bomb I put in your hands was just a nightmare, I don't have to deceive you any more, we can start again...and it's going to be different this time, I _promise_ you!"

And she leaned forward and gently kissed him but Taylor slept on, deeply sedated, unaware of his wife's confession.

* * *

As the door opened and the closed again, Gadget still had the contents of Penny's letter on his mind and weighing heavy in his heart, too.

She put her keys down on the table in the hallway and walked through to the front room.

"I dropped Maxie off at his friend's house. He was so excited to be having his first sleep over. _And_ he's excited about his Uncle Gadget moving in too!"

Penny's eyes were sparkling as she looked at him, but as she saw his expression her smile faded.

"Oh no, you haven't changed your mind, have you?" She wondered, "_Please_ say you're still moving in, I'd love you to stay with me!"

And Gadget looked at her and knew for sure there was no where else on earth he could stay and be so sure how much he was loved; _of course he was still moving in..._

He cleared his throat and used every ounce of his strength not to give in to the urge to break down and cry.

"I'm still moving in." He said quietly.

Then he held his arms out to her.

"Penny come here, I really need to..." His voice was breaking up and he knew it as he struggled to find the words, "_I just want a hug..."_

Penny was in his arms in a heartbeat, embracing him tightly.

"It's okay!" She exclaimed as she let go of him again, "Why are you upset, what's happened?"

Gadget shook his head.

"Nothing." He told her, "It's been a difficult day and..."

He stopped for a moment looking into her eyes as the thought ran through his mind and he felt as if his world could never be the same again:

_She loved him._

_Penny was in love with him..._

"...and I think I need to go and lie down." He told her, "I need to rest."

As he walked out of the door and headed for the stairs, Penny caught up with him, grabbing the sleeve of his shirt and as he looked back at her he saw concern in her eyes.

"Are you hurting?" She wondered.

The answer came to Gadget right away:

_Yes he was, in his heart, more than he could ever let her know..._

"No," He told her, "I'm not getting any pain from my face or from the internal damage. I think it must be healing faster than Lula estimated. I'm just tired, I need to lie down."

"Stay here tonight." Penny told him, "You can go back in the morning and pick up your stuff. Then maybe we can go and see Lula and get you checked over. You might be right, maybe you are getting better faster than she expected. I hope so."

And she smiled.

"I hope so too." Gadget said, "And that sounds like a good idea. Now I need to get some sleep, I'm sorry I'm not much company today but I feel tired."

"Okay." Penny told him, "You have a rest. I'll come up and check on you later."

Gadget was already climbing the stairs.

"You don't have to do that I'm fine."

"I know - but I _care_." Penny reminded him.

And Gadget kept climbing the stairs without looking back, because he knew only too well how much Penny cared – and he didn't want to think about it right now, he felt as if he couldn't think clearly at all, it was still a shock and still running through his mind:

_Penny loved him..._

* * *

By the time Penny had waited for Maxie's bed time and called him at his friend's house and listened to what a great adventure he was having, it had started to grow dark outside.

When she got off the phone she checked the time and decided to make sure that Gadget was okay – she knew he was still healing, still getting over the explosion and even though he had said he was only tired, it didn't stop her from worrying...

She went up the stairs quietly, made her way along the hall and carefully opened the door to the spare bedroom.

As she saw him lying there, on his side and with his eyes closed, she smiled, feeling her heart melt. Gadget was still dressed but his shirt was unbuttoned and she could see the row of micro chips that ran down the middle of his chest. Then she caught sight of the metal that covered the middle of his body and thought about what he had said:

Maybe he_ was_ healing faster than Lula had estimated...

Penny sat down on the edge of his bed, still watching him sleep.

Then Gadget slowly opened his eyes, but then he woke quickly as he looked up and saw her sitting there.

"What's the matter?" He wondered.

"Nothing, I just wanted to check you're okay."

Gadget still felt too tired to move; it had been a hard day and he felt as if Alicia and their quarrel had sucked all the energy from him, leaving him feeling drained.

Then he thought about Penny's letter and he gave a sigh and couldn't disguise the look of worry in his eyes.

Penny saw it right away and as she got onto the bed with him and kindly put her arm around him, he got the sinking feeling that whatever came next, he would have to lie to her because she was going to ask him again_ exactly_ what was on his mind...

"I know it's been a difficult day and you're still recovering from the bombing. Maybe you shouldn't be back at work yet, you should be taking it easy..."

"Maybe." Gadget said quietly, "But I can't sit around and do nothing while the bomber's out there, I just can't do that."

They were together on the bed, Penny sharing his pillow as she kept her arm around him and put her head on his shoulder.

She reached up and stroked her fingertips against his shoulder and he felt her touch through the fabric of his shirt while those words ran through his mind again:

_Penny loves me..._

"I've been thinking about a lot of things" Gadget told her, "The bombing. And as for Taylor, I don't know how he's going to feel when he wakes up and finds he's part machine. I know how I felt when it happened to me, I felt like part of me had been stolen, like I had no say in what had happened to my own body...it's a difficult thing to go through."

Penny raised her head from his shoulder and looked into his eyes.

"But you came to terms with it, you turned it around, you did that because you're a survivor."

Gadget managed a smile.

"Oh I don't know about that, Penny," He said in a tired voice, "Some things in life just can't be over come...I've had a _lot_ go wrong for me."

"So have I." Penny reminded him, "My husband left me."

Gadget was very aware that they we laying together, on this bed and Penny's arm was around him.

She had no clue about all he knew or how he felt and his damaged body was on his mind and as she spoke again, his words reflected those thoughts.

"You've had a lot of disappointment with your marriage." He said to her, "I wouldn't want you to have any _more_ disappointments, Penny."

And Penny gave a sigh as her head slipped down to his shoulder once more.

"No matter what," She promised him,"We will _always_ have each other. You and me are strong, our friendship is solid, nothing could _ever_ come between that."

And Gadget frowned as he thought about the letter again.

Then he thought about Max before he had left Penny; he had always been very close to his wife, kissing her, holding her...

_Gadget was thinking again about his nerve damage too..._

_What if Penny was in his arms, not like this, in his arms and looking into his eyes and wanting and needing him and then he would have to tell her that...what? _

_He couldn't give her what she wanted? He couldn't be a man to her?_

_No, he didn't want her to have that kind of disappointment._

Then Gadget gave a sigh and closed his eyes, wishing he had never even pictured that scenario in his mind:

_Making love with her?_

_He wasn't even sure if he ought to allow himself to think about that even for a second..._

_But even if a time came when they did make love, it wouldn't be like she recalled it with her husband, her undamaged husband who could love her properly..._

_He didn't even want to think about trying, even if the day came when the possibility came about, if it did come about..._

_How could he explain that he couldn't be a man to her, not properly, not in the way she would expect?_

_It was just too crushing to the last of his confidence to even think about it for a second_.

"I'm really not in a good place right now." Gadget said quietly, "I feel so down I just can't shake it off. Would you stay here tonight? I just don't want to be by myself."

Penny's arm tightened around his waist.

"Sure." She said softly, "I'll be right here. Now you go to sleep, Uncle Gadget. Just rest."

Her words were soothing, so was the sweep of her hand over his dark hair.

Gadget gave a heavy sigh and kept his eyes shut, welcoming the sleep that quickly drew him in, drifting him away into a dark, dreamless place where thoughts of the things he couldn't speak of left him alone and for a while he could forget that today was the day he found a letter that had changed his world so much he felt like nothing would ever be the same again...

_But he knew he needed her arms around him._

_He needed her close to him._

_His last thought as he fell asleep was this felt so wonderful; Being in Penny's arms felt like the safest place to be in the whole of the world..._

* * *

Penny stayed awake, listening to the sound of his breathing and hearing the beat and the tick of his human and mechanical heart as it worked steadily.

Then she raised her head from his shoulder, watched him sleeping and thought how warm she was here in his arms and as she watched his closed eyes she suddenly wished she could go with him into his dreams, to know what he dreamed of, to be there while he slept and not miss a single moment of Gadget's life.

Then Penny leaned down and gently kissed him, her lips touching softly against the row of exposed micro chips that ran down the middle of his chest, each marked with a _G_.

To pull away again felt like she was tearing herself away from the place she needed to be:

Being close to him like this was not enough, she wished she could crawl inside his heart, that precious heart of flesh and blood and metal and stay there forever, knowing she was inside his heart, knowing she was truly home...

"_I love you Gadget."_ She whispered, then she rested with her head on his shoulder while Gadget slept on, but she knew her words were lost on him because deep sleep had already claimed him and she guessed he would not wake up again until morning...


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11

_It was just gone four in the morning when Gadget woke up._

He turned to see Penny beside him, on top of the covers, her head resting on the pillow as she slept deeply.

He got up carefully making sure he didn't wake her and then sat in a chair by the window as he looked out at the darkness.

He guessed that he would have slept through until daybreak if he hadn't spent half of yesterday sleeping, but sleep was all he could do after how drained he felt after his meeting with Alicia, and on top of that he had been shocked by finding Penny's letter...

_Penny loved him._

_She was in love with him..._

As he thought about it and looked through the glass at the starless sky he gave a heavy sigh, wishing he had not woken at this worst time of all times to wake:

_The darkest time before the dawn._

_The time when every fear, every worry, took on a magnitude and crawled out of the woodwork to plague him._

A lot of those thoughts were crowding around him right now:

_He was also thinking about Taylor, who would soon wake up in a cyborg body._

Gadget recalled only too sharply how it had felt to do that, even to this day he felt a vague sense of pain that still lingered at the thought that he had been given no choice in his transformation, he had _never_ had a choice at all...

Knowing that Taylor had opted for this procedure in the event of an emergency made him feel a little less uncomfortable about it, but all the same, he knew how he would feel when he woke up – as if half his body had been stolen, as if he was half machine, with half his body gone...

_At least, that was how Gadget had felt about it when he had woken up in a rebuilt body._

He thought about it some more and decided he couldn't apply his own memories to someone else – there was no way of knowing how Taylor would react or cope when he found out what had happened to him.

But one thing Gadget was sure of was the fact that he would be there for him, because he had already lived through the nightmare of waking in a strange body, a body that he would be trapped in for the rest of his life and if he could offer only sympathy to the man it would be better than doing nothing to help.

_Then his thoughts turned back to Penny._

Gadget looked out at the vast sky that was yet to see the breaking dawn and thought about every word she had written in that letter – those were the words that had come from her heart, those words spoke the truth.

_The truth..._

Gadget was sure that he knew his own truth too, that after finding out about the way she felt, even though it had been a shock, his own truth of the matter was that to love her as she loved him would be the most natural thing his heart and mind could comprehend.

_He also knew that if he kept silent about the letter he would be in turmoil that wouldn't let up and he would also be deceiving her._

_He had truly had enough of deceptions:_

_He had lied to his wife for five years when he had deceived her with Alicia._

_There could be no room for lies when it came to Penny, not now or ever..._

_Gadget knew what he had to do._

And so he waited, waiting for the darkened sky to split with the first rays of dawn light, because that was when he would tell her everything, he would tell her the truth and hide nothing because she deserved no less than honesty now and always...

* * *

Penny thought she heard Gadget's voice as she stirred from sleep.

She opened her eyes and blinked, realizing that it was early morning because amber rays of sunlight were cutting through the sky and making the world seem a shade of mellow gold.

Then she heard him say her name again and she looked up, feeling surprised to see Gadget sitting on the bed and leaning over her.

He was looking into her eyes and he spoke softly.

_"Penny,"_ He said to her, _"We need to talk."_

She sat up, blinked again and realized she had fallen asleep in her clothes, in the spare room, on the bed next to Gadget and she had been there all night.

"What do we need to talk about?" She wondered.

Gadget fell silent for a moment, looking away as he thought about everything he wanted to say. It had all been there, clear in is mind while he had sat in the dark and waited for morning – but now the words were harder to put together.

"Brain was running around in your room yesterday." He told her, "I didn't mean to find it I was trying to tidy up after him – _but I found this_."

And she saw the folded letter in his hand and her eyes grew wider as she recognized it at once.

"_I...I'm sorry...I...I didn't mean to make you feel uncomfortable..."_

It was all she could think to say, but as she looked back at him and waited for him to tell her he did not feel the same way, Gadget put the letter on the table next to the bed and then took hold of Penny's hand. As he held it he could feel her trembling and he knew he was close to doing the same, and crying too – but he held it back, remembering what he wanted to say.

"I can't pretend I didn't find it." He told her, "I've thought of nothing else since that moment. And..."

He knew what had to be said, because any other statement would have been a lie.

Penny wanted the truth, so he gave it to her.

Gadget looked into her eyes as his grip on her hand tightened and as he thought about what he was about to say, he felt as if every missing piece in his life had just come together.

"_Life doesn't have to be unfair, Penny."_ He said quietly.

Her eyes grew wider.

"What...what do you mean?" She whispered.

Gadget's eyes shone with love and as he smiled she felt like her heart would burst with joy.

_"I love you too."_ He told her, _"I love you too, Penny."_

She leaned closer and threw her arms around him and for a moment the two of them sat there in a tight embrace, just holding on as if both afraid to let go in case the moment vanished like a dream.

Penny was still shaking and as he held her Gadget felt her give a sob.

"I didn't think you could _ever_ feel the same way..."

"I do." He promised her, pulling back from her embrace and looking into her eyes once more, "I _do_ love you, Penny. And there's no reason why we can't have..."

He paused, thinking about the facts she knew nothing about, "...A _close_ relationship." He finally said, "There's no reason at all why we shouldn't do that."

And Penny smiled as her tears stopped flowing.

_"Can I hold you?"_ She asked him, shifting over on the bed.

Gadget thought about the things she didn't know as he got on the bed and lay beside her.

She had her arm around him again, but this time she was pulling him close, close as a lover and he saw that look in her eyes, the one he had not wanted to see for quite a while because he needed to explain...

_"Penny."_

She ran her hand gently down his side, over his half open shirt.

Gadget took hold of her hand just as it strayed below his hip and placed it much higher.

_"Penny."_ He said again.

But she could only look into his eyes and think about how long she waited for this moment.

"_I never thought you would feel the same way." _She whispered as she stroked the undamaged side of his face and then ran her hand over his hair, _"I love you so much I was afraid you wouldn't feel the same, I thought if you knew you'd push me away and I couldn't, I couldn't hurt that much, I couldn't live with that –"_

Gadget gently put a finger to her lips.

"Just hear me out." He said, then as Penny kissed the finger that touched her lips he drew his hand away, placing it cautiously on her waist, then he slid it around her tighter, and they lay together, side by side resting on the same pillow, as he became only too aware that her mouth was a fraction away from his, he wanted to kiss her but he couldn't because there were things that _had_ to be said...

"I do love you Penny." He told her, "And I know you want us to... to be _together_ but we can't. _I can't_. Not like you used to be with Max."

And Penny laughed softly.

"I wouldn't want us to be like me and Max! If you were like Max that would mean you work all the time, rarely spend time with me – and when you do see me you hardly bother to notice I want some attention –"

Gadget smiled at her remark, he had not expected her to have painted that picture of her marriage in such a surprising light...

"No that's _not_ what I mean!"

Then his smile faded.

"I've got nerve damage. It doesn't just affect my back. I can't make love, not like I used to, not like you would want me to."

Penny didn't need to think about her answer.

"It doesn't matter." She told him, "It doesn't matter at all. I love you, I want to be with you any way I can. That's _all_ that matters."

Gadget gave a sigh of relief.

"You will never know how scared I was to tell you that!"

Penny smiled.

"Tell me anything, everything - you know I'll still love you."

Gadget was suddenly aware of nothing but the fact that they were together, embracing and so close their lips were almost touching.

"Do you want to... _try?_" Penny asked him softly.

As he replied he found it wasn't difficult to talk about now; Penny knew everything, she was okay about it and that made all the difference.

"I don't know, I'm not sure."

It was Penny who moved closer first.

She saw a nervous look in his eyes and pulled him closer, held him tighter and pressed her lips to his mouth, giving him a soft kiss.

That first kiss made him catch his breath and as she pulled back he looked into her eyes.

"My gadget mode's off." He told her,"So we _could _try...but I'm not ready, Penny. I keep thinking about _this_-"

And he pulled open the last two buttons on his shirt, as it fell open it exposed the metal that ran across his body.

"And there's the plate on my face too – I don't exactly feel attractive right now!"

Then he took in a sharp breath as Penny ran her hand over his side and then briefly touched the plate that was moulded to his body. It was the first time she had touched him like that and part of him wanted to guide her hand to the thin pipe that ran from his hip to his groin and hope by a miracle that the nerve damage wouldn't make too much of a difference, that the signals would reach the right spot – _but he just wasn't ready, not yet, not like this.._.

"Let's just stay like this for a while; I want to hold you, Penny." He said quietly.

Again he felt relief as he saw deep understanding in her eyes.

Okay." She whispered, "Just hold me, that's fine..."

They were locked together in a warm embrace now but even though he gently ran his hand down her long hair and she was stroking his side over the fabric of his open shirt, they both stayed in this embrace, talking softly.

"I guess we should wait a while before we tell anyone," Penny said to him, "I hope G2 won't hate me!"

Gadget smiled.

"She doesn't have it in her to hate anyone, Penny! She'll understand, it's lucky for us that some of her mind is part robot. She's logical. She'll see there's no reason why we can't be together – but you're right about waiting. We shouldn't say anythng to anyone yet. Not until me and G2 have been separated for a little while."

Penny was stroking Gadget's hair.

"That makes sense. But what about everyone else? How do we explain?"

"We just tell the truth." Gadget replied, "Let everyone know I'm not your uncle, let them know that when my marriage ended and yours broke up we realized how we felt about each other."

And suddenly Penny stared to laugh.

"Oh no! I can see it now – if Quimby doesn't get there first Mayor Wilson will! One of them will come up with the idea to make us do an interview or something like that for the press.._.another_ excuse to get the Gadget Project in the news!"

Gadget was smiling too as he pictured it.

"But at least it's a nice story about me." He reminded her, recalling the time when Alicia had sold her story to the Riverton News, "At least it's not a scandal this time!"

And he leaned closer and their lips touched again, they shared brief, gentle kisses as their lips met, parted again and then Penny ran her fingers through his hair while she kissed the metal that covered the damaged side of his face.

Then she pulled back and looked thoughtfully at his face mask.

"I think we should go and see Lula today." She told him, "I've got lots of time-Maxie's not home until after school tonight. Maybe Lula could check you over and see how you're healing."

"That's a good idea."

As he spoke, Gadget was aware his hand was sliding softly up her hip and he quickly raised it higher and stopped stroking her, at the back of his mind he was very much aware that he had been wondering for the whole time he held her if his body would start to respond, he wanted it to but nothing had happened and he guessed nothing would without touching the pipe that ran from his hip, but he had no plans to go that far just yet, for now, to be with her like this was enough...

"So we'll go and see Lula this morning?" She wondered.

Gadget smiled back at her.

"Okay, we'll go and see Lula. But I'm warning you, if she has to take this thing off my face and it's not a pretty sight you _might_ change your mind about me once and for all!"

And he laughed, but Penny did not.

"No." She said gently, "That won't happen, I love you Gadget."

He felt now as if all the weight of worry and confusion had lifted. She loved him and she knew he loved her and for now, that was enough.

"I love you too Penny." He told her warmly, then he let go of her and got up, wondering _exactly_ what Lula would say about his face when she scanned beneath the metal plate...

* * *

Delia Braydon had left the hospital as soon as she knew Taylor was properly stable.

She had been encouraged by the news that his grafts and mechanical alterations had healed rapidly into his human body very well, he was no longer in danger and also quite likely to be waking up far sooner than expected.

_Which meant she knew she had to work harder and faster to finish up this mess once and for all..._

_The cops thought they were hunting an amateur?_

_That would change soon, after the Big One..._

And as she thought about it, Delia stopped walking on the ground floor of Riverton Shopping Mall and turned around; beside her was a fountain that threw up clear water. There were stores everywhere she looked and elevators carrying shoppers to the upper levels. Across the other side of the mall there were moving staircases, also to take shoppers up and she stepped on to the nearest one and calmly looked around as she began to rise, when she reached the first floor she took another stair case to the second floor, then up to the third, where she ignored the stores and their designer goods where she once would have spent hours shopping in while she spent Taylor's money.

She walked over the edge and placed her hands on the silver rail and looked down at the three floors below her and smiled.

To anyone passing her by she looked like a well dressed, respectable woman out for an afternoon shopping trip.

_But anyone who thought that would have been wrong._

Delia's smile grew wider as she considered her most perfect plan:

The Riverton Mall, the largest shopping Mall in the town... _Four floors..._

She had the plan now:

_One bomb on every level, all detonated simultaneously via a remote control device._

_It would take some planning but she considered it would certainly be worth it:_

_This would be the biggest explosion the town had ever seen..._

* * *

As the Gadget Mobile came to a halt outside the cybernetics lab, the car spoke up curiously:

"_Am I missing something?"_

Penny and Gadget exchanged a glance and smiled.

"No!" They both said in unison, and then they both got out of the car.

The Gadget Mobile watched as Penny took hold of Gadget's arm as they walked up the steps to the entrance.

"I don't know what it is," The car mused aloud, "But those two seem to be a _lot_ happier all of a sudden..."

Gadget and Penny went into the building and headed for Lula's office.

"I'm so excited about this!" Penny exclaimed, "Just think, your face could be better right now, you might be able to have the mask taken off!"

Gadget's eyes lit up.

"That's true!"

Then he smile faded as he thought about _how_ it would be taken off.

"She'll have to unscrew it with an automatic screwdriver." He said quietly,"I hate the sound of those things, I always have ever since I had my first mechanical parts..."

They were nearing Lula's office.

"Don't be scared. I'll be with you."

Penny squeezed his hand and then she let go of him as Lula came around the corner.

"Gadget!" She exclaimed, "I wasn't expecting you to be here until tomorrow for the scan."

"I need you to do it today," He told her, "I think it's healed faster than you expected it to – there's no pain any more, even from the stomach wound. I feel absolutely fine."

Lula looked a little surprised.

"Well there isn't any accurate way to tell how long or short a recovery takes from skin and organ grafting when it comes to using living metal. The standard advice currently to give to patients is to say healing takes up to three months, but it's just an estimate. It could easily heal the same in a matter of days, like Taylor Braydon for example- he's making such a good recovery we are bringing him out of sedation. He's completely healed; he's taken so well to the grafts and the mechanics of his own body that he's totally recovered. At least, in his body – I can only guess at what state his mind might be in when he wakes up. I think he's going to need a _lot_ of support."

They were walking towards Lula's office now.

"At least he's got Delia." Gadget said, "I'm sure she won't leave his side. She was so distraught, I felt sorry for the poor woman."

Lula opened the door and they went inside.

"She's not here now." Lula told him, "As soon as she found out he was stable and making a recovery, she said he had to go home. She hasn't been back since."

Gadget frowned.

"_Not once?"_

Lula shrugged.

"Well she was exhausted and very upset and she stayed with him night and day until he was stabilized. Maybe she just needs a couple of days in bed."

Penny was frowning too.

"_Maybe..."_ She murmured thoughtfully.

Then Lula looked at Gadget.

"Okay," She said to him, "Get undressed and I'll take a look at you."

She glanced at Penny.

"You might want to wait outside."

Then Gadget spoke up and what he said surprised her.

"That's okay, Lula - I want her to stay."

And Penny looked away as she smiled a secret smile.

* * *

A short while later Gadget was lying down with a sheet folded down so far Penny couldn't help but let her eyes briefly wander to the thin silver pipe that ran from his hip. Then she turned her attention back to his face and Gadget looked up at her with frightened eyes.

"I'm _not_ going to look!" He told her anxiously, "I don't _want_ to see it...there could be a lot of reasons why I can't feel the pain any more... maybe the graft didn't take, maybe my insides are infected-"

Lula calmly slid the scanner over the metal plate that covered the middle of his body." Gadget, stop worrying! You are disease and bacteria resistant."

Then she looked at the image on the monitor and smiled.

"See that?"

Gadget knew she was talking to Penny because he had made it clear he didn't _want_ to look.

Penny looked at the screen seeing the layers of muscle and flesh in the three dimensional imagery.

"What does it mean?" She wondered.

"It means he's healed." Lula said, then she indicated to a small object on the screen.

"You see that, Penny? That's the tube that connects to the valve. It's only a small piece of rubber; once the plate comes off I can remove it. See how it's going tight? That's because the graft is healed and it's starting to squeeze the tube. It's ready to come out. As soon as it's out, the little hole where it went in will close up permanently."

Gadget had heard everything she had explained but it didn't make him feel any easier about the process.

"So how does the tube come out?"

"I'll take off the metal plate first and then take hold of the tube and –"

Gadget started to break out in a sweat.

"You're going to _pull_ it out, I know you are..."

"It won't hurt." Lula promised him, "It's just a few seconds of -"

"_Pain!"_ He exclaimed.

"Discomfort!" She corrected him, reaching for a small automatic screwdriver.

Then she paused.

"Is your Gadget Mode off?"

"Of course it is."

"Okay," She said, "I'll start unscrewing the plate."

And she noticed Gadget was rapidly turning into a nervous wreck.

"Penny." She said, "Just take care of him while I get this plate off...just talk to him."

Penny nodded.

She pulled up a chair by his bed, leaning over him as she blocked his view of what Lula was doing this lower body as she switched on the screwdriver.

"Don't be scared."

Gadget's breathing was shallow and he gave a sharp jolt as he felt the screwdriver start to work on the metal plate.

Penny took hold of his hand and her heart ached for him as she realized he was trembling.

"Don't be scared," She said again as she looked into his eyes, "You heard what Lula said, you're better now!"

"Has she finished yet?" He wondered, listening as the screwdriver fell silent.

"No Gadget, just couple more..." Lula replied.

He took in a shaky breath.

_"I just want this to be over."_

He was still looking up into Penny's eyes.

"I know, I know you do...just relax." She said softly.

Then the screw driver fell silent and Gadget gave a gasp as the metal was lifted from his body, and for a moment it felt like a layer of skin had been taken with it.

He was slightly breathless as he looked up at Penny.

"Is it off?"

"Yes it's off." Penny said, looking at the newly healed skin that bore no scars. It was considerably paler than the rest of his skin and she wanted to ask Lula about that but it was something that could wait, at least for now.

"This will feel cold." Lula warned him as she slid the scanner over his healed skin. Then she positioned it so she could see the tube clearly on the screen.

"Watch this." She said to Penny, "It will just close up right away – and you might want to hold his hand too. Stay calm, Gadget, I'll get this over quickly for you."

Gadget was sweating and shaking as he gripped Penny's hand tighter.

"It's okay." He heard her say, but he screwed his eyes shut, getting ready for the pain.

Lula took hold of the thin tube and quickly drew it out.

Gadget squeezed Penny's hand and gave a sharp cry of pain, then as the pain melted away he lay there trying to catch his breath.

"Oh wow look at that!" Penny exclaimed as she looked at the screen, "That little hole just disappeared!"

Gadget opened his eyes.

He was breathing easier now and his face was damp with sweat.

_"That hurt!"_ He stated.

Penny smiled at him.

"And it's _over _now." She reminded him.

Lula wiped the sweat from his face.

"Turn your head, Gadget." She said to him, "Just turn towards Penny and keep looking at Penny and _don't _think about what I'm doing."

Gadget froze as he felt the vibration of the screwdriver loosening the plate on his face.

"Penny," He said in a frightened voice, "If I look too bad just scream or something, then I'll know not to look in the mirror!"

Then he caught his breath again as the screwdriver loosened another screw and he felt the plate become loose.

Penny caught the look of panic in his eyes and she kept hold of his hand.

"It's okay; she's taking it off now."

As the plate came away he felt the same sharp sensation as the metal parted company with his new skin.

_Penny was staring at him._

Gadget stared back at her.

"How bad is it?" He wondered.

Then Penny started to smile as her eyes sparkled.

She gently put her fingertips against his healed face and gave him a brief kiss.

"You look just like _you_ again." She promised him.

Then she looked at Lula.

"Why is his new skin so pale?"

"It's just because it's been covered by the plates." She replied, "The best way to get rid of that is to apply some gentle massage."

And as Lula turned to put the scanner away Penny looked at Gadget with a playful look in her eyes.

"_Massage!" _She giggled in a low voice, "That's it, I'm taking you home _right now!_"

Gadget stared at her, then he blushed and started to laugh.

"I'm _not_ used to you talking to me like that!"

She leaned closer and hugged him.

"Get used to it." She said lovingly,"There's a side to me you know nothing about - but you will soon."

Then she straightened up in her seat as Lula came back and handed Gadget a mirror.

"See for yourself, you look just fine."

Gadget cautiously raised the mirror.

He looked at his reflection, then he looked closer and apart from the fact that his healed skin seemed pale, at least for now – he could see no scars, no hint of his injury at all.

And then she started to smile.

"Wowser!" He exclaimed as he put the mirror down, "You fixed my face!"

Gadget sat up and reached for his shirt.

"Lula can you sign me back on for active duty now?"

Penny's heart sank as she heard those words.

She thought about the Riverton Bomber and the damage he had fought so hard to overcome from the explosion..._and he just wanted to get back out there and chase this maniac?_

"No." She stated.

Gadget paused, leaving his shirt half open as he looked at her.

"Excuse me? I have a job to do, Lula! I am never off duty and right now there's never been more of a reason for me to be _on_ duty!"

"Your stomach wound has just closed up. That means you don't need the tube feeding any more. But you can't start eating again until tomorrow. I want you to go home and rest and spend tomorrow getting used to eating food again. It's a cybernetic graft so you can eat what ever you like tomorrow. But you need that day to get used to your normal digestive function again. And _if_ you do that, Gadget, _if _you do as I say, I will sign you back on for active duty the day after tomorrow. You can come here and pick up the paperwork and give it to Quimby yourself, okay?"

Gadget nodded.

"Okay, I'll do that." He said reluctantly, "If that's the way I _have _to do it I will."

"I'll make sure he rests." Penny promised her, "He's coming home with me."

And as she said that she looked at Gadget and smiled and he saw the look in her eyes and he smiled too; yes, he was going home with Penny and right now that was the _only_ place he wanted to be...

* * *

After Gadget and Penny left, Lula went down the hall and checked on her patient Taylor Braydon.

His vital signs were strong and healthy now and she had decided to have him taken off life support and monitoring.

He had been restless all morning; a sure sign that his new body, able to fight off sedatives easily, was starting to take over and soon it would be impossible to keep him sedated. He was recovering and he was waking up and he was doing it a lot faster than she had expected him to.

As she walked into the room he stirred, turning slightly and then giving a sigh.

Lula stood over his bed and looked down at him.

"Taylor?" She said softly, "Can you hear me?"

Taylor dragged open sleepy eyes.

"Hi..." He murmured, seeing a shapely blonde in a lab coat standing by his bed.

"I'm Lula Smith, cybernetic surgeon." She told him, "You were in an explosion, do you remember?"

Taylor still looked sleepy as he blinked a few times and thought about what she said.

"_I...I know there was a big bang..."_

"It was a bomb." Lula said gently, "And you were seriously injured. We had it on file that in the event of an accident you were willing to use cybernetic technology to save your life, so we did that. You have undergone extensive cybernetic surgery to your upper body. "

Taylor pulled himself up a little, leaning back on pillows as he stared at Lula.

"You did _what_ to me?" He said in a hushed voice.

"We used cyborg technology to save your life. You look outwardly human apart from the chips down the middle of your chest but both your arms have been replaced and most of your upper body is covered with cybernetic skin. It looks and feels real and you have living metal infused into your bones-"

Taylor took in a sharp breath and tears filled his eyes.

"_Really?"_ He said in a choked up voice.

Lula sat on the edge of his bed and gently ran her hand over his hair.

"It's not the end of the world, Taylor. These procedures saved your life."

Taylor looked down at the micro chips on his body, and then he cautiously touched them.

Then he looked back at Lula and blinked away more tears.

But now his expression was _very _different. His eyes were shining and he was giving her a great big smile.

"Thank you _so_ much!" He exclaimed, "You don't understand, you just don't know how much this means to me – _I've always wanted this!_"

And he grabbed a small mirror next to the bed and looked intently at the chips set in his chest.

He nodded.

"_Oh yeah, this is my dream come true!"_

Lula stared at him.

"_It is?"_ She wondered.

Taylor was still smiling as he looked back his altered body as he proudly admired the micro chips set in his chest.

"_Oh Yes!"_ He exclaimed,"This is _so_ cool! _Oh wow, I'm a cyborg!_"

And he looked joyfully at Lula.

"_Thank you so much!"_ He said excitedly.

Lula smiled too, feeling stunned by his reaction.

"You're welcome." She told him, feeling relieved that he had taken it so well – she had seen many different kinds of reactions to patients waking up with cyborg alterations- but never with the level of joy and excitement showed by Taylor Braydon - this really _was_ a first...


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 12

Penny hadn't stopped smiling all the way home.

When she closed the front door she checked the time.

"Okay, I have the rest of the morning and half the afternoon before I pick Maxie up. That's a _lot_ of time –"

_"Penny."_

She saw the look in Gadget's eyes and by now that look was all too familiar – he _was telling her to slow down yet again..._

"I've got to take it easy, don't get excited, there's _nothing_ exciting going on!"

Her smile faded.

"I know that, and I understand too. You _know_ I understand."

He looked at her apologetically.

"Yes, I do know you understand but I still feel like I'm not being fair on you. I'm just not ready to move on with us, not right now, I've been through a lot and I'm..."

He stopped himself before he said it:

_Scared._

"I'm just..._not ready_." He said, but as he looked at Penny he swore his heart pounded harder and so did the mechanical side of it too.

And Penny looked up and smiled.

Gadget guessed what she was looking at as he felt the warmth spread from his hat.

He tapped it and stopped the blue flashing hearts that had suddenly lit up.

"I'm _not_ ready." He said again, "But I _do_ love you."

"I know you do, I love you too." Penny replied.

Gadget took off his coat and hat and hung them up in the hallway.

He turned back and Penny was still standing there.

"_We should do it sooner rather than later_." She said with a hopeful look on her face.

Gadget gave a sigh.

"Penny I told you, I'm _not_ ready!"

"No, I mean the massage! You need to get your new skin warmed up, right?"

Gadget laughed as he realized his mistake.

"Oh _that's_ what you meant! Sure, let's do it right now."

Penny turned away and began to walk towards the bathroom.

"Okay," She called to him, "I'll find the lotion and while I'm doing that you can go and take your clothes off."

Gadget's eyes widened.

"_Take my clothes off?"_ He repeated in a low voice, then he remembered he needed to get his new skin warmed up and this was the only way to do it, so he went into the bedroom and started to unbutton his shirt.

* * *

Taylor was getting dressed.

"You _really_ should slow down." Lula told him, "You're not used to your new body yet and –"

"I'm fine with it, I _love _it!" Taylor exclaimed as he buttoned up his blue jeans and stood in front of the mirror, pausing for a moment to admire the micro chips set in his chest.

"But I need to explain about your hydraulics –"

He ran his hands down his hips, admiring the way the denim clung to them so perfectly, then he looked through the mirror and gave her a knowing smile.

"Lula," He said, "I know already!"

"But you don't!" She exclaimed.

He grabbed a white shirt and put it on, leaving the top buttons open, then deciding to open up another one, just so the world could see his micro chips...

"_I have standard cyborg hydraulics, which are more or less human strength – with a little bit extra. Not enough to be superhuman, but strong enough to be classed as very strong human."_

She stared at him.

"How do you know all that?"

Taylor turned from the mirror.

"I know all about cyborg technology!" He said enthusiastically, "I read everything I can find!"

Then he suddenly felt shy and his face began to turn red.

"Actually I was wondering if I could show you some pictures- just me doing some role play. I've got fake stuff, like cyborg add ons that I used to wear for fun, that kind of stuff...but it's a bit more _visible_, get what I mean? I like what you've done for me but couldn't you sort of..._turn it up a bit? _Like, a few more chips, maybe some metal work too – I _love _visible metalwork!"

Then as his eyes shone and his imagination worked faster his blush grew even deeper.

"You get what I mean_. I'd better stop talking about it now. I'm getting excited_."

Lula looked puzzled.

"_Excited?"_ She said aloud, then she caught a slightly guilty look in his eyes and she gave a weary sigh.

"You've got a _thing _about this stuff?"

He was still blushing as he nodded his head.

"When I woke up and saw you standing there I..._I thought_..."

Taylor looked down at the floor and then he ran his fingers through his hair and looked back at her feeling awkward.

"_I thought it one of those hot dreams I get where this girl turns me into a cyborg and then_ ..._you know_..._"_

He was still blushing and his voice had dropped.

"No I don't know." Lula replied.

"Well..." Taylor said, "She...um...you know, turns me into a cyborg and then she jumps in bed with me to help herself to my...my...um..._man metal!_"

"_Man Metal?"_ Lula exclaimed.

Then she shook her head.

"Okay I get it! I don't want to hear any more about it, you're my _patient!_"

He smiled at her, it was a smile that carried with it a trace of shyness but came with a sparkle in his eyes.

"I'm _very_ grateful to you." He told her, "And I wouldn't blame you if you wanted to, I mean, you do this kind of stuff to guys _all_ the time! I'm so lucky this has happened to me! I'm a rich guy but I couldn't find a doctor willing to do this to my body – they all said no..."

Then he remembered something.

"Well there was this one guy who said he could fit some chips for me. But he wasn't a doctor. _And he wanted to do it naked_..."

He frowned.

"I don't know why..." He said in a puzzled voice, "But I turned him down because he wasn't qualified. But you've made my dreams come true! And if you want to help yourself just come over here and –"

"_No!"_ Lula told him firmly as she tried not to smile, "Taylor, I'm married. And I don't have relationships with patients."

Then she thought about Gadget.

"Well I did once – that's why I've got a six year old daughter now! I _don't _make a habit of getting close to patients. The answer is _no_."

"But can I show you my pictures?" He wondered, "I want a camera that comes out of my temple, I want to be able to take it out and put it back automatically, I want basic scanner tech and radar- I don't want some little discreet thing, I want it gun metal color and I want to look cool like something out of a sci fi movie. Can you do that for me?"

Lula gave a heavy sigh.

"_Maybe."_

Then she looked down as Taylor tied his shoe laces.

He was still looking up at her.

"My wife is going to be so surprised to see me like this!" He exclaimed,"I'm going home to her right now!"

And he stood up.

"Taylor!" She said sharply, realizing what he had just done to his shoes, but he took a step forward and promptly fell to the floor with a thump.

He quickly sat up and gave Lula a smile.

"I'm okay," He told her, "I did it again...laces...I tied em both together, I do it all the time when I'm not watching what I'm doing!"

And he untied the laces and got up again.

Lula gently took him by the arm and sat him down on the bed once more.

"Just stay here for a few more days." She said to him, "Just to make sure everything's working the way it should. It's standard procedure to do that. You wouldn't want to walk out of here and have malfunctions, would you?"

He thought about what she said and then he nodded.

"You're right. I've got to make sure everything's working okay."

"Of course you have, Taylor." She said to him, "Now just be good and sit back and rest. I'm sure Delia will be along to see you soon. I'll call her and let her know you're recovered."

Then she walked out of the door and as she closed it she took a step away from his room and giggled.

"_Man metal?"_ She exclaimed, still laughing as she headed back towards her office.

* * *

Gadget was lying on the bed with his shirt off. He had kept the rest of his clothing on and as he looked down at the pale skin that had grown over the wound that had once been covered by the metal plate, he wondered how long it would take to warm up and start looking as human as the rest of his skin appeared to be.

He was always aware of the machinery within him but his skin made all the difference; it made him feel so much more human again and looking at that pale flesh that seemed almost dead made him feel uneasy.

Penny sat down on the edge of the bed and poured some lotion into her hand.

Then she hesitated.

"This won't hurt, will it?"

"No." Gadget replied, feeling sure he was right because it felt just fine, it just _looked_ strange...

Penny gently slid her fingertips across the new flesh, feeling surprised that it was so warm to touch. It looked dead but felt warm and soft and she started to make gentle circles as she massaged him, watching as the skin began to take on a living shade.

"It's working!" She exclaimed.

Gadget looked down and gave a sigh of relief to see the tone of the new skin was now starting to blend in with the rest of his flesh; it seemed to be happening right beneath her touch, almost like magic.

"Maybe its not the massage." He said,"_Maybe its you."_

And Penny drew her hand away from his now recovered skin and for a moment she looked into his eyes and he looked back at her as he thought about pulling her close for a kiss, but then he changed his mind.

"Let's hope you can do the same magic for my face." He said.

Penny shifted closer and Gadget closed his eyes as she gently stroked the lotion into his face.

As her fingertips caressed him he started to smile.

"It certainly feels good. Is it working?"

"No, not yet." Penny said, as she continued to stroke his face, "You might have to ask Lula to put the mask back on."

Gadget opened his eyes and stared at her in alarm.

And Penny started to laugh.

"I was only kidding! You look great, of _course_ it worked, it worked right away!"

Gadget sat up and caught sight of his reflection in the mirror that hung on the wall. His face looked flawless, as if the bomb had never harmed him.

Then he looked back at Penny.

"You really had me worried for a minute!"

And Penny laughed again.

Gadget playfully grabbed her and they tumbled back onto the bed.

_"I believed you!"_ He exclaimed, although he was smiling now.

Penny looked up at him, eyes shining with joy as she gently touched his face.

"You look just perfect." She said softly, "It's like the bomb never happened."

And Gadget leaned closer, wanting to do nothing at this moment but kiss her –then her words reached him and the light disappeared from his eyes.

"But it _did_ happen." He said quietly, _"I can't wipe out the memories like I can the scars on my body."_

And suddenly Penny wondered which explosion he was referring to; the one that had been the reason for his transformation into Gadget, or the blast caused by the Riverton Bomber...

Gadget relaxed his grip on her as a haunted look came to his eyes.

He let go of her and turned onto his back and looked up at the ceiling as his thoughts began to drift.

"I'm sorry, Penny." He said quietly, "I guess I can't just shut the door on the past and pretend the bad memories don't exist."

And as she lay beside him he turned sharply and looked at her, in that moment there seemed to be darker clouds in Gadget's eyes than she had ever seen gathering in the skies above Riverton on the stormiest of days.

"It's just me." He said quietly, "It's me, Penny. I look back and every time I look back there's a shadow, always something hanging over me. Sometimes things can happen in life and you think you've moved on you think it's gone away and all it takes is a reminder and it comes back, then it feels like it was yesterday and it hurts all over again."

As she looked into his eyes it dawned on her that she had never thought about it, not enough to understand that the past troubled Gadget and always would.

"I never realized. "She said softly, "I just didn't see beyond the surface, I didn't know you thought so much about the past, even to this day I'm still finding out these things about you."

And suddenly the man with the troubled look on his face was gone and he forced a smile, bringing a sparkle to his eyes that instantly changed him back to Gadget as she knew and loved him so well.

"I'm sorry, Penny!" He said, "These things get to me sometimes. Forget about it –"

"I can't forget you said that! I want to help."

"You can't help me." He told her, "I was the prototype; I was the first cyborg. That's something I can't share with anyone because that was my experience alone."

And then Gadget closed his eyes and gave a sigh.

_"Sorry to bring all that up."_

Penny put her arm around him, moving closer, resting her head against his chest as she heard the beat and mechanical click as both sides of his heart worked in unison.

"At least you're healed now." She told him, hoping that reminder would help in some way.

Gadget gave her a gentle squeeze.

"That's true." He replied, and then he opened his eyes and looked down at Penny, who was curled close in his embrace.

"I think for now – because of Maxie - it's best if I sleep in the spare room." He told her, "I mean, to him I'm his Uncle Gadget and he doesn't know about us and his Dad hasn't been gone long."

Penny kept her head close to his chest so he couldn't see the disappointment in her eyes.

"That makes sense." She replied quietly.

"I'm glad you think so." Gadget replied, then he stayed close to her but while she felt warm in his embrace he felt very much alone as he thought about the _real_ reason he had made that decision - he knew what Lula had told him about the nerve damage; The Riverton Bomber hadn't just left him with wounds that were now healed, he had also been left with damage that would last forever – he would never be able to love her in the way she wanted him to and he knew that and the more he thought about it, the more it dawned on him that the bomber had also taken away something much worse than any physical injury could have inflicted:

He wanted to be with Penny, he loved her – _but after knowing all he did about the extent of the damage that bomb had caused him, he was too afraid to even try..._

* * *

G2 was speaking on the phone and she had a smile on her face.

"But that's wonderful news Lula!" She exclaimed, "It's a good thing that he's so positive about it! A lot of people have trouble getting used to cybernetic alterations; Taylor's very unique to think the way that he does!"

From the other end of the phone, Lula gave a sigh.

"I know that, but like I said, I don't think he needs you to come and visit him, G2. He doesn't need support. I've been trying to avoid him all day because he keeps leaving his room to look for me to show me a sketch of what he's got planned for some more modifications!"

G2 laughed.

"I like Taylor." She told her, "He's such a nice guy– I'm happy for him that things have worked out so well."

"You're the only who's said so." Lula replied, "I've left messages for his wife and she hasn't even called back. I know she was very much against the idea of cybernetic treatment. I hope this doesn't cause problems between the two of them."

"Be sure to tell him I called." G2 said to her.

"I will." Lula promised her, "And thanks for calling. Speak soon."

G2 put the phone down and thought about what Lula had said..._Taylor's wife had not been to see him since he had woken up? That was odd..._

Then there was a knock at the door and G2 thought no more about Taylor as she went to see who the caller was.

As she opened the door she stared in surprise at the tall, grey haired man who gave her a bright smile.

"You've changed a lot!" He exclaimed, "It seems like only yesterday you were the latest model in the Gadget Project!"

And G2's electric blue eyes lit up and she smiled back at him.

_"Baxter!"_ She exclaimed as she hugged him, "It's _so_ good to see you!"

* * *

When Penny brought Maxie home from school he ran into the house and stopped as he reached the open doorway to the front room.

He stared at Gadget in surprise.

"Uncle Gadget, your face is back to normal!"

Gadget smiled.

"That's right, Maxie. I'm all better now."

And as he gave Penny's son a hug, he wished those words were true... _everyone thought he was back to normal, as if being part machine meant he could just get over the damage and get on with life and to a certain extent it was easier to let them think it..._

Then as Maxie let go of him and raced off into the garden to play with Brain, Gadget stood alone in the front room and looked around at the place that had once been such a happy family home when Penny had been married to Max. He thought about the future and tried to picture himself being here with Penny, living with Penny and raising her son with her...

_The more he thought about it, the more alone he felt._

_It was crazy; he knew he should be feeling happy to know that they both cared as deeply as they did, that she loved him as much as he loved her and..._

_It should all have been so simple._

_But it was'nt simple, it was complicated all because of..._

Gadget turned to the mirror and looked at his reflection; his face was flawless now and beneath his shirt he knew his stomach wound was gone too.

_But the rest of it was still there, hidden inside._

_As far as he was concerned, the real wreckage from the explosion was beneath his cybernetic skin, out of sight but he knew it was there, in was in every piece of metal, every artificial fibre in his body, both working and damaged..._

Then he took in a deep breath and pushed away those dark thoughts as he realized he wasn't even thinking about what the Riverton Bomber had done to him any more:

_He was thinking about the day of the explosion, the other explosion, the one caused by Claw..._

Gadget turned from the mirror and went out of the room, still deep in thought.

Then he paused by the kitchen doorway as Penny took strawberries from the fridge and set them down on the table.

"I'm cooking dinner soon." She told him," But I thought I'd have some of these now. Do you want –"

Then she stopped, remembering he couldn't eat until tomorrow.

"Oh sorry I forgot!"

Gadget smiled.

"That's okay I'm starving right now but I'm going to do what Lula told me to do – I'll wait. I've got it all planned out, I'll start eating tomorrow and then I can go and see Lula the next day and get my paperwork and take it straight over to the Chief and tell him I'm fit for duty."

As he walked into the kitchen he looked at the strawberries and he thought about it, _just one little bite_... but then he decided it was better to wait; Lula had given him good advice right from the start and he wasn't about to eat before he was ready, because he was enjoying feeling well again and he didn't want the pain coming back.

Penny picked up a strawberry and took a bite.

"I'll save some." She said while she was eating it, "And tomorrow, when you can start eating again you can have them."

Then Penny reached for another strawberry but changed her mind, feeling guilty for eating like this in front of him when she knew Gadget couldn't eat until the next day.

"I_ really_ wish I could have one right now." He told her.

Penny was smiling at him as she got a sudden idea.

_"Come here, Gadget."_

He stepped closer to her, smiling as he saw the sparkle in her eyes.

"What Penny?"

"_Kiss me."_

"Maxie's in the house. It's too soon –"

Her hand slid around his waist and she pulled him closer.

"Maxie is in the _garden._" She reminded him, "Come here."

Gadget leaned closer and they kissed, it was a brief warm kiss that tasted of strawberries and he pulled away quickly but he still had a smile on his face.

"Stop it Penny, I'll want another one!"

She smiled back at him.

"Another taste of strawberries?" She said playfully and Gadget felt a warm rush of love for her as his heart beat harder and he stepped back from her.

"Yes, another taste of strawberries." He said, "_And_ another kiss."

And as he noticed the look in her eyes he was surprised to find his face was heating up, he was blushing and it was even spreading to the side of his face that had just finished healing.

"I'm going upstairs." He told her, "I need to get some more rest. Tell Maxie we'll all have dinner together tomorrow, as a family."

Penny smiled back at him.

"I'll do that." She promised him.

* * *

As Baxter sat and listened to everything G2 had to say, he gave a sigh.

"Well I can't say I'm too surprised that you and Gadget broke up. I mean, to begin with you were both similar design and back then you went together so well, especially when you worked together. But time changes all of us in different ways, doesn't it. And the latest technology is so different to how it was when I was in charge of cybernetics. But I have to say, I've heard a lot of good things about Lula Smith. She's brought about some amazing changes, helping to make cybernetics more accessible to those who really need it- and the lab space she has is enormous. I can only guess at the size of the budget to run everything, but Mayor Wilson's done a great job of promoting robotic to human technology."

Then he thought about Gadget.

"So he's staying with Penny?"

G2 nodded.

"He's moving in there for now until he finds somewhere else to live."

"She'll be good company for him." Baxter replied, and then surprise registered in his eyes.

"I never knew he wasn't her real uncle – but then again he never was one to discuss anything that was too personal with anybody – only his glitches! Does he still get them?"

"Now and then." G2 told him, and she smiled.

"But he's a great father and a good friend and I'm determined we will stay friends."

"You're very kind and very strong to deal with this situation the way you are." He told her, "Most women would have gone crazy over their husband having another woman for five years behind their back – even if they are a former android in a human hybrid body."

G2's eyes sparkled as they shone an unearthly shade of electric blue.

"I prefer to use logic as opposed to emotion at times like this." She explained, "And I must say, I'm grateful I have the capacity to do that or the outcome could have been every different. But I can see that we are better off apart- staying together would have eventually eroded our friendship and that wouldn't be fair on the kids- or on me and Gadget."

Baxter nodded.

"You're absolutely right, G2." He said, and then he set his coffee back down on the table.

"Actually, the reason I come over was because I read about the bombing in newspaper. I'm so glad Gadget's got thought it, I read about how badly hurt he was. How is he now, is he over it?"

The light faded from G2's eyes.

"He's healing well on the outside." She told him, "But as for the rest of it I don't know if he can ever get or it. He seems so different these days, but he doesn't say much to me about it."

"Maybe he'll talk to Penny." Baxter replied, "Those two have always got along so well, I'd be surprised if there was anything he felt he couldn't tell her. And I think I'll go over and pay him a visit tomorrow, I'm in town for a couple of days. "

G2 smiled again.

"I _definitely_ think you should do that." She agreed, "Seeing you would do him so much good, he needs all the friends around him he can get right now."

Baxter smiled back at her.

"Don't worry about Gadget." He promised her, "I'll talk to him; I'll make sure he's okay."

* * *

Taylor was sitting on his bed fully dressed and he was still determined to leave.

Lula looked at him and gave a weary sigh.

"Taylor, you are fine, I know nothing is malfunctioning and you could walk out of here right now – but I would prefer it if you at least waited for your wife to come and pick you. It would just be nicer for you to go home with her."

Worry flickered in his pale eyes.

"But you said you can't find her. Maybe she's got so worried over me she's gone on _vacation!_"

"Vacation?" Lula repeated.

"If I upset her or worry her, she goes off without me for a while to chill out." He said, "She told me it's good for her."

And as Taylor smiled, she looked into his trusting eyes and felt very sorry for him.

"She walks out on you if there's a problem? Oh Taylor, she _shouldn't_ treat you like that!"

"But she always comes back!" He said hopefully.

Lula looked at him sympathetically; one look in Taylor's friendly but slightly blank eyes told her he didn't have a clue how his wife was _really_ treating him...

"Look," She said, "I don't want to keep you here any longer than you need to be here. I can see that you're functioning well and you've made a good recovery so I'm going to let you go home. If you have any kind of difficulties I want you to call me right away, have you got that?"

Taylor smiled.

"Thanks Lula!" He said as he got up, "And don't forget to-"

"I know, I'll take a look at the sketches you made for your scanner implant."

"Thanks." He said again, "I'll come back and see you soon –you can tell me if you think it's possible to do the implant."

"I had a feeling you might say that!" She replied, and then he was out the door and walking down the corridor, impatient to get out and go home and show Delia his new body.

* * *

But Taylor Braydon did not go straight home.

Instead he drove away from the cybernetics lab and headed over to Riverton Police Department, where he parked his car, got out and then he walked into the building and asked to speak to Chief Quimby...

Quimby had been sitting at his desk, long since frustrated at getting no new leads on the Riverton Bomber, and had resorted to killing time by relaxing in his chair with his feet up on the desk while he launched paper planes and tried to get them to fly on an angle to send them nose diving into the basket nearby where he dumped his trash.

As his third attempt failed and hit the floor there was a knock on his door and he quickly took his feet off the desk and sat up straight, reaching into a box of donuts as he fixed his attention on the closed door.

"Come in!" He called out.

He was surprised to see Taylor Braydon standing there, looking every bit the same as he remembered him before the explosion: Tall, with slightly messy streaked hair that he kept pushing off his face, the only difference he could notice in the man was the fact that his shirt was partly unbuttoned and he could see a row of micro chips down the middle of his chest.

"Mr Braydon! He said warmly, "Please come in. I've been hoping I could speak with you soon."

Taylor took a seat and looked across the desk at Quimby who still had the donut in his hand.

"So I'm hoping you might remember something useful about the bomber?"

Taylor looked back at him blankly.

_"The bomber,"_ Quimby said again, realizing all the technology in his rebuilt body hadn't made the guy any smarter, "What can you tell me about the Riverton Bomber?"

Taylor thought for a moment.

_"Well...he ...um...makes... bombs? Not a nice person, I would guess..."_

Quimby slammed the donut back into the box, pausing to wipe jam and sugar off his fingertips.

"No Taylor," He said, trying to keep his temper in check because Taylor had been through a lot since the explosion, "I mean, what do _YOU_ remember about what happened?"

Taylor frowned and shook his head.

"I don't really know much. No, wait – I remember, there was a _big bang!_"

He had said that as if the remark ought to be so very helpful, and now he was smiling at Quimby.

The Chief gave a sigh.

_"A big bang."_ He repeated, "Well I guess that means _no_, you don't know _anything_ about the person who caused it."

"Sorry." He said, still looking a little vacant, "I don't remember anything else."

Quimby shoved the donut box a little further from his own reach feeling too disappointed to eat right now.

"Well thanks for stopping by. It was nice seeing you, it's good to know you're back in one piece."

And the Chief looked down at the donuts again.

Taylor got up but made no attempt to leave.

"Sir," He said, "I want to ask you something."

Quimby looked up at him.

"_What?"_ He snapped.

"I'm a cyborg now," Taylor said, and then his eyes sparkled with excitement as he thought about his decision.

"I want you to give me a job, Chief! I want to be a crime fighter! I want to fight evil!"

The Chief gave another weary sigh. He had lost count of the amount of times over the years he had yelled at Gadget because of his glitches and his clumsiness_...now Taylor Braydon wanted to get in on the act too?_

_Taylor, a crime fighter?_

He looked at him.

"No! _Just...NO, Taylor!_ Now get out of my office, I've got work to do!"

Disappointment showed in his face as he spoke again.

"But please Chief Quimby, just try me out...just give me one chance-"

_"I said, NO!"_ He yelled, _"Now get out of my office!"_

Taylor turned and walked out, slamming the door as he forgot his new strength and heard a crack as wood splintered.

"_Taylor you clumsy idiot!"_ Quimby yelled after him, but Taylor just walked out of the Police Department and headed back to his car, wondering how he could ever join forces with Inspector Gadget, a cyborg like him, who had also survived the Riverton Bomber, if Quimby wouldn't even give him a chance.

He sat in his car and thought about it and suddenly his eyes lit up and his smile came back as he got an idea.

_Then he drove off, deciding if Quimby wouldn't give him a chance to fight crime, maybe Mayor Wilson would..._


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter 13

Gadget woke up the next morning as Penny came into the bedroom.

"Good morning." She said sweetly, "Did you enjoy your long sleep? You look a lot better for it, your face looks great!"

Gadget didn't doubt that this final day spent taking things easy had done wonders for his new skin. But as he looked at the clock next to the bed he sat up sharply.

"Its ten am! Why didn't you wake me?"

"Because today you need to take things nice and slow, you need to start eating again and I wanted you to have a rest. I know what you're like; if I'd woken you up earlier you would have been out the door, forgetting about what Lula told you to do. I'll bet you wouldn't have even _thought_ about eating until lunchtime!"

And she set a tray down on the bed.

"There you go." She said, "I cooked you breakfast. Eggs, bacon and toast... and you _can_ eat now, so eat all of it, Lula said it's okay to eat whatever you like, remember?"

For the first time in a long while Gadget looked at food and didn't feel that ache that he usually did knowing that he couldn't touch it. The food looked good and smelled good too.

"Thank you Penny." He said gratefully.

She smiled.

"And after you've finished breakfast I want you to stay in bed for a little while longer, just half an hour so you can take it easy and get used to having food inside you again. Will you do that for me? "

"Will you stop worrying about me if I do that?" He wondered.

She was still smiling.

"Probably not, purely because I love you. But I can try."

Finally Gadget smiled back at her.

"Then I guess maybe I should be glad you worry about me this much."

Penny glanced at the food on the tray and then looked back at Gadget.

"Eat your breakfast." She told him, "And then you can have your strawberries."

The memory of her strawberry flavored kiss made him feel warm inside and he was sure that warmth was the true reason that he was blushing all over again.

Gadget said no more as he picked up the knife and fork and started to eat, and as he tasted food for the first time since the explosion he was sure nothing had ever tasted as good as this –_except perhaps for the kiss Penny had shared with him, the one that tasted of strawberries..._

* * *

As the sun shone down brightly over Riverton, another resident was waking up late.

But as the covers were slid slowly off his body and he felt her hands sliding over his chest, he lazily reached up and pushed his hair off his face, and then he opened sleepy eyes.

He caught his breath as he glanced down at the manicured fingers that slid over his body. _Those were not Delia's hands!_

Taylor's eyes became wider as he caught his breath, remembering what had happened:

_He had only called at the Mayor's house to ask her if she could speak to the Chief for him and try and get him a job._

_She had been very interested in his rebulit body and when she had asked to see these micro chips he was so proud of, he had smiled and happily opened his shirt._

_And then..._

_It was all flashing before his eyes, like an erotic, yet strangely horrible dream..._

_She was all over him_.

It was good; Taylor had never known a woman so..._desperate_ for his affections before...

_She had kissed him hard, smearing her lipstick on his mouth, then her fingers ran though his hair as they rolled on the bed and she had wrapped herself around him like an octopus, saying it over and over:_

"_Yes,Taylor! More, more!"_

Taylor reached out and cautiously ran his hand over Mayor Wilson's hair as she kissed down the middle of his chest, her lips touching each of his micro chips in a way that made him tingle as he recalled how she had lured him into her bed:

_She had told him her husband was out of town. _

_She had told him she was lonely, and - right about the time she kicked the door shut with a nudge of her stiletto shoe and grabbed hold of him – she had looked into his eyes and made a promise: _

"_I'll speak to the Chief for you, Taylor...but not right now. I have needs_..."

The rest was a blur, but a pleasurable one, even if he had never intended to cheat on Delia. After all, Mayor Wilson had been all over him like an octopus and an octopus was a _very _tricky animal to fight off, especially once his clothing was in a heap on the bedroom floor...

Taylor started to smile as he thought about the woman who had once been his political rival.

"I understand," He said to her as he stroked her hair, "You mustn't feel guilty about this; it's not your fault you couldn't resist me! It's my new body, of _course_ it is! Women just can't resist my _man metal!_"

And she stopped kissing him and looked up with a confused expression on her face.

"I never feel guilty." She stated, "Just be quiet, I was enjoying myself..."

And she started to kiss him again.

Taylor thought about telling her he _really _needed to leave because he wanted to get home to his wife, but then her kisses moved lower and as he gave a gasp his eyes shone with excitement to think that he, Taylor Braydon, had become so sexy with his hot cyborg body that even the most powerful woman in the whole of Riverton was unable to resist him, she had fallen for him:

_Mayor Wilson just couldn't keep her hands off him..._

* * *

After breakfast, Gadget had taken Penny's advice and stayed in bed.

He had only intended to rest for a sort while but the food had made him feel so warm and sleepy that he had given into the tiredness that swept over him and by the time he opened his eyes again, the breakfast tray was gone and Penny was sitting on the edge of his bed, her hand felt cool as she swept it over his hair.

"You've been sleeping so peacefully," She said softly, "I've been sitting here for ten minutes just watching you."

"I never knew sleep could be that interesting." Gadget replied, suddenly feeling aware of the fact that Penny was within reach of his embrace, and had she not been all he needed to do was stretch out his long arms and wrap them around her anyway...

He was doing it again; he was thinking about all the things they could never share, so he pushed those thoughts away.

"I think it's about time I got up." He told her.

"It is." Penny said, then as she reached the door she turned back and smiled; she had been keeping this secret ever since there had been a knock at the door an hour ago and she was waiting to see his eyes light up and his smile come back. It soon would, as soon as she told him the news...

"You'd better get up right now." She added, "Because someone's here to see you."

Gadget looked at her in surprise; he hadn't been expecting any visitors today...

"Who is it?"

"Baxter's come to visit!" She exclaimed.

And then Gadget's eyes lit up at the memory of his old friend, the scientist who used to fix his many glitches back in the old days.

_"Baxter's here?"_

"He heard about the bombing and he thought he'd pay you a visit" She told him, "He's out in the garden waiting for you. I'll tell him you're on your way."

Gadget was still smiling and it was a relief for Penny to see him looking so happy again.

"Tell him I'll be up in ten minutes."

"I'll do that." Penny replied, and she left the room once more.

Penny had already spoken with Baxter; she had spoken with him for more than an hour while Gadget was sleeping and she had done all she could to put him in the picture regarding exactly how he _really_ felt– he was making a good job of pretending to be just fine but Penny knew differently; she only had to look into his eyes to see there was more. When Baxter had promised to speak to Gadget about this she had thanked him, feeling sure that if anyone could give him some useful advice, he was the man to do it. Then Penny had kept out of the way, while Baxter waited in the garden for Gadget.

* * *

As he waited, Baxter thought back to the days when Gadget used to come to him complaining about his many glitches.

He smiled as he sat in the garden on a bench and watched fish dart about in a nearby pond.

A lot of time had passed by since those days, but all the same, recalling Gadget's many glitches made him smile; Gadget had always coped so well with everything, even _when_ things went wrong...

Then his smile faded as he thought about what G2 and Penny had both told him about how the bombing had affected him; G2 hadn't been able to tell her as much as Penny about how the bombing had affected his confidence but she had certainly told him enough about the terrible injuries he had suffered in the explosion.

It was the worst thing that could have happened, the retired former scientist felt certain of it:

_Gadget had not needed to endure injuries from a second explosion, not after what the first had done to him so long ago..._

Baxter knew everything about Gadget's cybernetic parts.

He also knew everything about the human side of his body – or what had been left of it after the first explosion – and as he sat there and watched the fish pond he felt so happy for him; it certainly hadn't been easy for the man, but he had undergone an upgrade and even had a pelvic reconstruction. He was sure Gadget must have found all of it very frightening and painful too but he had certainly done the right thing by embracing the latest technology; now he was still Gadget, but so much more human with it and he was sure that meant a lot to him... It had certainly changed his life – a few years back it would have been impossible for him to have the improvements made to his body that he had now achieved- and not only that, but he was now a father, too. That was something Baxter felt sure never could have happened for Gadget back in the days when he ran the lab; technology certainly _had_ moved on a lot...

"_Baxter."_

He had spoken with such warmth and as Baxter got up and looked into Gadget's eyes he put his arms around him and gave him a big hug.

"Gadget, it's so good to see you!" He exclaimed as he let go of him once more.

"It's good to see you too." Gadget said brightly.

They sat down together on the bench and Gadget started to speak again.

"I expect you heard about the bombing. But I'm okay now."

"_You are?" _Baxter said carefully.

Gadget smiled and his eyes shone with pride as he changed the subject.

"Did you know I've got kids now?"

"Yes, I've heard all about the kids." He told him, "You've got two girls of your own and young Grace too. And Emily's mother is Lula Smith, the scientist who replaced me when I retired?"

Gadget nodded. He felt his face start to blush at the memory of his one night with Lula.

"Well it was just one of those things – she'd just completed my upgrade and it was an emotional time –"

"_And_ she's a foxy lady too!" Baxter pointed out, and they both laughed.

"Yes, that too." Gadget admitted, "But then G2 was reactivated because of the hybrid creation and I thought I had everything I wanted but I was seeing Alicia MacKenzie –"

"'I've heard all about you and her." Baxter told him.

And the retired scientist patted the back of Gadget's hand.

"For all your Gadgets and robotics, it doesn't change the fact that you're only human deep down inside, Gadget. Us men, we make mistakes- we can't help it. We all have our weaknesses and yours was more to do with having a kind and loving heart than anything else. Of _course_ you felt sorry for the woman. And G2 told me how you're both bringing up Grace. She's very logical, I'm glad she hasn't changed in that respect." He added, recalling his recent conversation with G2, "It would have been a very messy break up if she'd lost that robot logic when she got her new body. But I'm glad you're both staying friends."

Gadget looked into the pond, avoiding Baxter's gaze as he thought about all the things that weighed heavy on his mind.

"Did G2 tell you about how Delia Braydon tried to blackmail me?"

"She told me everything." Baxter replied, "And I like the way you handled it, too. You certainly shut her up! And I think it's wonderful that you decided to adopt Grace. I never knew you were adopted as a young child, Gadget. You never mentioned it before."

Gadget gave a sigh as he looked at the dark water reflecting sun.

"There's a lot of things I'd like to mention." He said quietly, "I mean about _now_, about my life – but I wouldn't want to spoil your day."

"Gadget, you _won't_ spoil my day!" Baxter told him, "I heard about the bombing. That's why I decided to come and see you –I wanted to know how you're doing."

And Gadget looked at him and Baxter saw despair in his eyes all of a sudden.

_"I'm not okay."_ He admitted, looking at Baxter and recalling all the years he had known him, all the times he had looked to him to fix his glitches.

He trusted him, he remembered that and all of a sudden it was easier to speak from his heart even though the truth hurt to voice aloud:

"After the bombing, when I was recovering, I found out that Penny had feelings for me – deep, amazing feelings. The kind of stuff that poets write sonnets about...and I realized I felt the same way."

"And that's wonderful." Baxter said, "It truly is! She came into your life as a teenager who had no one and you took her in and you cared for her. And she grew up fast. She's a grown woman now, Gadget! She's been married, she's got a child now – and I heard from G2 about her husband leaving her. I would imagine you might want to keep it quiet for a while because you've just separated from G2 but she's logical, she'll understand. _Why _do you look like you have the weight of the world on our shoulders? You and Penny have fallen in love and that's something precious and you should be _happy_ about it!"

Gadget blinked back tears.

"I don't think I'll ever be happy again." He said in a low voice, "_Baxter, my life is destroyed because of the Riverton Bomber!_ Penny wants me to be the kind of man she's used to sharing her life with – a man who's able to take her in his arms and love her – properly! I can't do that. After the explosion Lula had to cut my spinal cable and while I was critical my thermostat failed and..."

He stopped, giving a sigh as he let Baxter work out the rest.

"And you got some damaged fibres because of the drop in your core temperature." He guessed, "Artificial nerve damage that can't be repaired."

Gadget nodded.

"Lula told me it's going to leave me with some back pain but it won't be frequent. But there's more- it's going to affect how my reconstruction works and she said I won't be able to make love like I used to. So every time I look at Penny I think about how much she loves me and I love her and then I know it's come too late for us because I can't give her what she wants."

"So you've tried?" Baxter wondered.

"I didn't want to build up her hopes for something that wouldn't happen."

Baxter looked at him knowingly, recognising the slightly nervous look in his eyes.

"Gadget," He said, "You'll never know unless you try! She didn't say it was the end of your love life, she just said you might have some problems with it! You've always been the same, you get a problem and you think it's a big deal, you were_ always_ the same way with glitches!"

Gadgets eyes widened as he looked at Baxter.

"_This isn't some glitch that can be fixed!"_

"I know." He replied, "So you can't fix it. Instead you have to make the most of things and get on with life."

Gadget blinked away more tears and as he spoke again his voice choked up.

"I was badly hurt by that bomb." He told him, "I saw the timer hit zero and I knew I wasn't getting out of there. _She was my last thought._ Penny was on my mind as the bomb went off in my face. And I tried so hard to stay alive, to fight and keep fighting because I'd been there before but this was different, this time even my cyborg body was affected."

Gadgets voice dropped to a whisper.

"_Now I know what the Riverton Bombers taken away from me I don't even understand why I bothered to fight so hard to stay alive!"_

And then he took in a sharp breath as he wiped his eyes, feeling determined not to break down and cry because he felt sure if he did, he would never be able to stop the flow of his tears again.

"I've got so much anger, so much pain...and I can't do a damned thing about it." He explained, "That's what the bombers done to me, Baxter. I can't change it."

Baxter put his hand on Gadget's shoulder and looked into his eyes.

"Listen to me," He said kindly, "Penny loves you. And you love her too and that's all you need to remember. You know what I think about what's happened here? I don't think the bomber can harm you any more than Claw ever could! You were never afraid to go after Claw and hunt him down – that's because you refused to let him get to you! It's the same with this situation. _If you let the Riverton Bomber take away your confidence and make you feel like you want to give up, the bomber has won_."

Gadget stared at him as he took in what he had just said:

_He had never thought about it that way before..._

Baxter was still speaking.

"You're Inspector Gadget. You fight evil. Are you going to let evil win this time?"

His words had struck a deep chord and Gadget frowned as he thought about it.

"_No, no I'm not."_ He said, feeling some of his strength creep back into his partly metal bones.

Baxter gave him a pat on the back.

"That's more like it! You're Riverton's greatest crime fighter – so get out there and fight crime! I want you to walk in Quimby's office tomorrow and tell him you're going to catch the bomber!"

"_I will."_ Gadget replied, _"I will catch the Riverton Bomber."_

Baxter lowered his voice as he spoke again.

"And as for you and Penny – you show that woman how much you love her no matter what it takes! Think back to the days before you even had the reconstruction – you still had women in your life! It didn't stop you then, why should it stop you now? And Lula didn't say you can't make love she just said you could have some problems with it! So it's not as bad as you think! Just take that step forward, Gadget. Once you do you'll find everything is so much easier. You'll be glad you did it, you'll never look back!"

And as he saw the sadness melt away from Gadget's eyes, Baxter smiled.

"You _can_ handle this." He promised him, "You _can_, Gadget. Don't give up on your life. You fought so hard to hold on to it, you mustn't be too afraid to start living it again."

And then Baxter got up and so did Gadget.

"Thanks." Gadget said, and he smiled as he gave the former scientist a hug.

As Baxter stepped back he laughed.

"You look a lot happier all of a sudden." He told him, "Maybe that glitch wasn't so hard to fix after all!"

Gadget returned his smile.

"Maybe." He replied.

Then Baxter checked the time.

"I should be leaving now" He told him, "I need to be heading home to my wife. I'll call you, Gadget."

"I'll be sure to let you know how I get on." Gadget replied as they walked back through the house.

Baxter smiled.

"I'll probably read about it in the newspaper!"

They were at the front door now.

Gadget stared at him.

"_I'm not telling the newspaper about my sex life!"_

And Baxter laughed.

"I mean about the bomber. I'll read about you catching the bomber!"

And Gadget smiled and shook his head as he realized his mistake.

"The bomber, right..."

Penny came out of the front room as Gadget was giving Baxter a final hug.

As he hugged Gadget he looked over his shoulder, smiled at Penny and gave her a wink, silently letting her know he had done all he could to fix a kind of glitch he had never tried to fix before.

And Penny smiled back at him.

"_Thanks."_ She mouthed silently, and then Baxter said goodbye to Gadget and Penny went back into the front room, feeling a lot happier to know Gadget had been able to open his heart to a friend whose advice could make all the difference in the world to him right now.

* * *

As Taylor Braydon opened the door and stepped into his home for the first time since the bomb had gone off in the garage, he got an odd feeling as the silence hit him.

"Delia?" He called out, walking down the hallway and starting to check every single room.

By the time he had reached the kitchen and still not found her, he just stood there for a moment feeling confused: _Where was she?_

"_Delia?"_ He called again, then he went back through the hall and started to go up the stairs.

Moments later after checking every room on the upper level, he went back downstairs again and this time went out to the garden.

As he stood on the lawn and looked across at the gaping hole the bomb had ripped into the garage, it seemed as if nothing had been done to clear away the rubble yet - and as he looked into that darkened hole in the wall he felt a chill run through his rebuilt body that seemed to make the metal in his bones go cold:

_He was holding something in his hand? _

_The bomb?_

_Had he picked it up?_

_Then he was sure he heard Delia scream his name from somewhere close by._

As the blinding flash of light replayed in his mind he caught his breath, shaking as he blinked and reminded himself the bomb was gone now, it was in the past...

_But what the hell had he just seen?_

_Delia was nearby?_

_She had warned him?_

_But Delia knew nothing about the bomb..._

He was still shaking and now breaking out into a sweat as he tried to stay calm, wondering if his memories were still a little bit screwed up.

Then his cell phone rang and he answered it right away, hoping to hear Delia's voice.

"Where _are_ you?" He sounded anxious.

Then he heard Lula's voice on the end of the line.

"Taylor?" She said, "Are you okay?"

He took another look towards the bomb damaged garage and gripped the phone a little tighter as he spoke.

"I'm okay, I just feel a bit weird coming back here and seeing the garage wrecked like this...I keep thinking about the explosion and I'm getting some weird ideas... it's like my memories are all mixed up. I...I feel _strange_, like I'm seeing the bomb go off again."

"It was traumatic for you." Lula reminded him, "It might help if you talk to Delia about what you're going through. Sometimes that's all you need to put memories like that back in their proper place."

"She's not here." Taylor told her as he glanced again around the empty garden, "I can't find my wife!"

"I'm sure she'll be home soon." Lula replied, "Don't start worrying and thinking she's gone, I'm sure there's a perfectly logical explanation. Just try and stay calm, okay? "

"I _am_ trying to stay calm." He replied, "But seeing what the bomb did, it just makes me ...I don't know how to put it...it's like I'm seeing weird stuff in my imagination."

"If you cant find Delia and you still feel this way tomorrow, I want you to come over to the lab and talk to me about it." She told him, "Promise me you'll do that?"

Taylor gave a sigh as he turned away from the bomb damage and looked instead at the flowerbeds on the other side of the garden; it was a view that carried no bad memories for him and helped to calm his sense of unease.

"I might do that." He replied.

"I wanted to see you any way." Lula told him, "I know you're happy with your modifications but most people need time to adjust – that's why we keep everything on tape so that if a person wants to see their recovery they can see the parts that they don't remember. I was wondering what you wanted to do with your records."

Taylor's eyes lit up at once at the thought of being able to witness his own transformation from man into machine.

"I _want_ those tapes!" He said enthusiastically, _"And if you keep the actual cybernetic surgery on tape I want that too – I will pay you double for a copy of that - no wait, forget doubling the fee – just name your price!"_

As she spoke again his smile faded.

"We _don't_ keep footage of the surgery, Taylor!" She said, sounding rather shocked, "It's just your personal record of _afterwards!_ Do you want it or shall I dispose of it?"

"I want it. I'll pick it up tomorrow." He told her, then he ended the call and wondered again where Delia was, before walking back into the house because he knew he would have to spend time here sooner or later, so it seemed to make sense to start right now, while he tried _not_ to think about the bad memories that made little sense to him...

* * *

As Gadget walked out into the garden Penny followed him.

She stood there and said nothing as she watched him looking down thoughtfully into the dark waters of the fish pond and the thought suddenly struck her that Gadget's mind was much like that pond- darker and deeper it seemed on the surface; _much said about still water was never more true than when it came to the mind of the man she loved..._

"It was good to see Baxter again." She remarked.

Gadget turned and smiled.

"Yes it was. He gave me some good advice too. I'm going to act on it right now, start as I mean to go on."

"What are you going to do?" She wondered, noticing the light had come back into his eyes that had long been absent as part of her hoped he would take her into his arms.

_But he didn't do that._

"I know I'm not back at work until tomorrow," He told her, "But I'm going over to Mayor Wilson's house. I need to ask her a couple of questions. I won't be gone long. What time are you leaving to pick Maxie up from school?"

"I'm not." She told him, "He begged me to let him have another sleep over at his friend's house and I said yes, so I'm home all day."

Gadget stepped closer to her and their eyes met as he briefly touched her cheek.

"Then I'll see you soon." He promised her, "I won't be gone long."

Then Gadget hesitated, before leaning closer and briefly kissing her.

He pulled back quickly and smiled again.

"I'll see you soon." He said again, and as he walked away Penny smiled too as she put her fingers to her lips, sure that she still felt the warmth of his kiss.

And there was something else, too – something in the way he had spoken, the way he had looked at her – s_he was sure they were growing closer all of a sudden and she hoped she was right about that, because she had seen so much in his eyes, so much that was there yet he had left it unsaid..._

* * *

The work was still ongoing at the Mayor's house.

As he got out of the Gadget Mobile he looked up at the house and guessed it would probably take more than a year to get everything repaired the way Mayor Wilson wanted it.

He found her in her new office and her secretary was with her, noticing that made him feel confident she would not be overly keen to make advances because they were not alone.

But all the same, when he walked through the door and she saw him looking so well now the mask was off, her eyes lit up.

"Inspector!" She said warmly, "It's _so_ good to see you looking so much better!"

"Thanks." He replied as he walked up to her desk.

The Mayor remained seated, shifting back in her chair as she crossed her legs and squeezed her thighs tightly together beneath her silken dress.

"You'll have to stop by soon and have a _proper_ chat with me- it's been too long since you've done that."

"I'm very busy right now." He told her, "And this isn't a social call. I'm not back at work until tomorrow but I wanted to stop by and get a copy of your guest list from the night of the explosion."

The Mayor blinked heavy, spidery lashes as she looked back at him in confusion.

"Why would you want that?"

"Because if I'm going to catch this bomber I need to start at the beginning. I need to trace every single person who was here on the night of the bombing. I want statements from _everyone_ – including _you_."

Her eyes grew wider.

"_Me?"_ She said indignantly, _"Are you accusing me of planting a bomb at my own party?"_

"No." He told her as he tried to stay calm even though she was on the verge of yelling at him, "I'm just trying to cover everything from the perspective of every person who was present. So I'll start with that guest list, please."

And he held his hand out.

The Mayor glared at him as she pulled open a drawer and snatched up a copy of the list and thrust it into his hand.

"Take it." She snapped, "And if you want a statement from me you can have it right now: _I held a party for some of Riverton's finest residents and a bomb went off killing fourteen people and I want the bomber caught as much as you do, Gadget!_ And that's all I can say because that is _all_ I know!"

Gadget folded the list and put it in the pocket of his trench coat.

"Thanks for your help." He said quietly, then he walked out of the room, closing the door behind him.

He was thinking about going home but as he turned to leave the house he looked across the hall at the remains of the bomb damaged ballroom.

Remembering how he had felt last time he had confronted the scene of the explosion, he knew for sure he needed to see that sight again - if only to know in his heart that he could handle this now...

Gadget walked up to the open doorway and took a deep breath and stepped inside:

Yes, he _did_ feel differently now...

_He wasn't feeling shot to pieces by the memory of what had happened in here any longer, now he was looking at the scene of a crime._

One glance reminded him there was nothing left here to search for, there was nothing here but wreckage...

_Then something sparkled like stardust, shimmering as it caught a ray of sunlight that crept through from the open doorway._

Gadget stepped closer and pulled it from a mix of plaster and masonry and broken splinters of furniture.

He held it up and blew the dust off it, recalling the memory of the woman he had fallen in love with, the woman who had stayed by his side after the explosion, who had ran through the smoke and the chaos to find him, losing her shoe as she ran into the ballroom...

Then as Gadget watched the sunlight make the shoe seem to shimmer even brighter, he thought about her and started to smile:

_Suddenly everything made perfect sense, he could see so clearly now and he knew what he needed to do..._

Gadget turned away from the wrecked ballroom and walked out of the Mayor's mansion, heading back to the Gadget Mobile, then he got into the car and the engine roared into life and he took off at speed, heading for home, because that was where he knew he needed to be:

_He needed to be with Penny..._


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter 14

"_Penny?"_

As Gadget called her name Penny came out to the hallway.

"Are you okay?" She asked him.

As soon as he looked into her eyes he saw such concern and he smiled.

"I'm fine! Stop worrying about me! I just went over to Mayor Wilson's house to get a copy of the guest list from her. I won't start making enquiries until I'm back at work tomorrow, but I just needed to make some kind of a start today."

Then he paused and thought about the decision he had made.

"_And_ I wanted to go back and see the ballroom." He admitted, "Last time I walked in there I felt as wrecked as the building was, but not this time. I feel stronger now."

Penny smiled back at him as she looked into his eyes; she could see it clearly, he _was_ feeling stronger now, it was as if he had finally managed to put everything that had happened in its place and now he just wanted to get on with his job and be Riverton's finest crime fighter once more. It was a relief to see his confidence was coming back once more.

Then she caught a flicker of hesitation in his eyes as he spoke again.

"And I did a lot of thinking while I was there, too. _About who I really want to be with and how much I love her_."

Penny drew in a sharp breath as she blinked and tried to push back the urge to cry – she wasn't sure if what he was saying would lead up to her hopes and dreams crashing down around her:

_What was he trying to say, that he wanted to go back to his wife?_

_If Gadget wanted to get back with G2 there was no way she would try and stop him, she loved him and she wanted him to be happy even if that happiness wouldn't be with her..._

"And what did you decide?" She asked him quietly.

"I decided that after the bombing, after the way she stood by me and devoted herself to me, I knew I should have realized a long time ago just how much that woman loved me."

_Penny was sure she was about to cry._

Then Gadget smiled again.

"And the minute I found this, "He told her holding up the sparkling shoe, "I knew the answer was right in front of me, I knew I was right, I knew I wanted to spend the rest of my life with _you_."

Penny was trembling as he handed her the shoe.

Then she laughed.

"_I haven't got the other one – I threw it away after I lost the first one – I never thought they could be a pair –"_

Gadget leaned forward and gripped her gently, kissing her softly but that kiss lingered and made her head swim and as his kiss deepened she lost her grip on the shoe and it fell to the carpet as she clung to him, unable to speak and barely able to breathe as his mouth claimed hers and they stayed locked that way, in a deep and lasting kiss.

Then Gadget pulled back from her, he looked into Penny's eyes and saw desire there, so much it seemed as if she might burn up with it and he suddenly felt nervous and unsure again.

"Just give me a minute," He said, taking off his hat and trench coat and hanging them up in the hallway, "I just need a moment to think about this..."

Penny's face was flushed and she was slightly breathless.

She knew how nervous he was and it was taking all of her willpower not to push him on the issue, it was so difficult to hold back it was starting to hurt, to ache deep inside for all the things she wanted but didn't feel she ought to say because she knew what he had been through and she understood – but she knew she needed to hold back even if it felt like it was killing her.

"_It's okay."_ She said softly, _"I can wait."_

Gadget had spent a few brief moments with his back to her as he straightened up his coat where it was hanging on the hook on the wall then he took a deep breath and turned around and met her gaze.

"No Penny." He said, "It's _not_ okay. Things are going to change, starting right now."

And he paused again, knowing for sure this was the most difficult thing he had ever had to say, but he was going to come out with it and say it:

_She was looking at him, waiting for his explanation._

_She wasn't that teenage girl who had come into his care all those years ago._

_Now she was a woman, she standing there with love and confusion in her eyes and looking so beautiful in the light summer dress she was wearing that clung to her body... and he wanted to take her in his arms no matter what happened next, even if he couldn't love her the way she needed him to..._

_Those words were still hard to get out as he kept on looking at her._

Gadget took a deep breath and found his voice once more.

"I'm going back to work tomorrow."

"_I know."_ Penny replied, smiling as Gadget gently took hold of her hand.

"And I thought I'd just go to...um...I thought I'd go and... lie down for a while and take it easy."

"That's a good idea." She told him.

"_I'm going to bed."_ He added.

Then Gadget gripped her hand a little tighter.

"_I want you to come with me."_

Penny kept a tight hold on his hand as she leaned closer and kissed him softly.

As she pulled back from that kiss his grip was still tight on her hand but she saw apprehension in his eyes.

"Are you sure?"

Gadget nodded.

"I want us to be together." He told her.

"So do I." Penny replied, reaching up and gently touching his now flawless face, "It's going to be okay, don't worry. _I love you_."

Gadget kissed her again and their kisses stopped only as they made their way towards Penny's bedroom door.

She could barely break from his kiss as she pushed the door open, then moments later she fell back towards the softness of her bed. And as she fell Gadget's arm extended at the wrist, stretching to pull her closer and Penny caught his hand, turning her head to brush her lips against the metal work hidden within that was now exposed.

Gadget caught his breath as he smiled.

"_I can feel that."_ He whispered, and he caught a flicker of excitement in her eyes that was suddenly ignited on a deeper level at the thought of his partly robotic body.

"No," He said, "I can't do this with my gadget mode on, I need to turn it off! I know you like my robotics but it's too dangerous... _and_ I want you to remember I've got damage so this may _not_ be great -"

Penny slid her arm around him and pulled him closer, whispering in his ear.

As he heard what she said her words added to his confidence and his desire as he slid his hands to her shoulders, holding her against the mattress.

"_I think I can certainly make you do that..."_

And he blinked, breathlessly whispering _Go Go Gadget Thermal Imaging_.

As he looked down her body at the way the heat was concentrated in all the right places beneath her clothing he blinked again and his vision cleared.

"Yes I can _definitely_ make you do that - you're just about ready now... I've got to switch this thing off..._Gadget Mode Off_..."

He saw the message blink in the corner of his vision that confirmed his gadget mode was now off, and he let go of Penny and stood up.

Penny was still lying on her bed, on her back, looking up at him as he stood over her and loosened his tie and then slid it off before starting to unbutton his shirt.

"This might not be everything we want it to be." He reminded her.

"_That's fine."_ She murmured, her eyes fixed on his firm body as Gadget stripped off his shirt and she saw the array of illuminated micro chips that ran down his chest.

"You're sure?" He said as he looked down at her.

And Penny looked up at him standing over her, watching the way his chest rose and fell rapidly as she caught the look in his eyes she had waited to see for so long.

Her voice was choked as she blinked away tears and reached for him as a wave of emotion washed over her that she could no longer fight.

"_Of course I am! I'm sure, come here, come here Gadget I love you so much!"_

"_I love you too!"_ He said, not caring that his own tears were falling and mixing with hers as he took her in his arms and kissed her hard and deeply as his he slid his hand around the back of her dress and tugged down the zip.

As her clothing slid off her body he finally felt the warmth of her skin against his own, human to cyborg and as they kissed and caressed some more and whispered words of love all his fears vanished and he knew for sure that nothing else mattered but this, just being here with her in this room at this moment - it all made sense, it all felt right:

_They belonged together_...

* * *

Delia Braydon stood at the window that gave a wide view of Riverton city center far below.

She took a deep breath as she turned over the small box that she held cautiously in her manicured hands:

_It was a remote control device. _

_This had taken time but now she was almost ready..._

_Four floors, four bombs, all primed to explode at the same time at the push of a single button._

_It had been a perilous time, with her walking around the mall as if she was just another shopper but each one of those devices had been planted now._

_There was no going back..._

She had considered calling in a warning to Riverton Police to give them a chance to clear the building first but she had guessed that they would just write it off as another hoax now that her claims about the first bomb had been disproved.

_They would have to think again after this explosion._

_They would have to assume that there was still a splinter cell of the ACR out there somewhere, intent on destroying the safety of Riverton, the birthplace of cybernetic technology..._

Delia put the remote control down on the table and looked around the luxurious hotel room:

She would have a perfect view of the devastation here from the top floor, the hotel overlooked the mall and as she thought about the people who would be injured she felt the heavy weight of guilt upon her again.

Then she remembered that this had all started because of a mistake; she had never set out to become a murderer, yet it had led to this, with her feeling as if there was no other way, not if she wanted to hold on to her freedom...

_Her thoughts switched to Taylor as she wondered how he was progressing._

She wanted to pick up the phone and call the lab and ask how Taylor was doing – but then she remembered Lula Smith had told her at the time of his surgery he would most likely not wake up properly for seven days.

She looked away from the phone, trying not to think about her husband and the injuries he had suffered because of one moment of paranoia that she would regret for the rest of her life.

_She couldn't spend time regretting the rest of it, regretting the other deaths because it was too much to comprehend, too much guilt to carry and all she could focus on was her own survival now, it had come to this and soon it would be over, it would be over tomorrow at noon when she hit the button and the building shattered..._

Delia turned back to the window, looking out at Riverton's biggest shopping mall.

"_It's almost over..."_ She murmured as she kept her gaze fixed on the mall and thought about the way life would be after the explosion, when Riverton Police would rethink the bombers profile, when they would decide they were looking for someone else, anyone – just _not_ her...

_It would be over tomorrow, over by noon..._

* * *

It was late afternoon and the sun's glow was softening as it slipped lower in the sky, making the bedroom turn a shade of amber as the light filtered through the window.

The sheets were warm and damp from the heat of their bodies as Penny lay beside Gadget and held him closer, sliding her hand patiently over the metal pipe that ran from his hip, stroking the metal with the same brief, firm touch of her fingertips that had started to coax his body to send out the right signals from the moment she had first caressed him.

He had told her it would be different to what she was used to, he was part machine, without the signal from the connecting pipe nothing would happen for him – and she had been patient, and now he was shaking and breathing heavily, helpless with the sensation that her touch had finally achieved.

"_You're getting there."_ She whispered, pressing her lips close to his ear, _"You're almost there..."_

"_I know..."_ Gadget said breathlessly.

"_Come here." _Penny told him, pulling him closer as she rolled with him beneath the sheets.

_Gadget clung to her as he realized they were finally together the way they both wanted to be and at the moment he knew that pleasure rushed through his body and he trembled as he gave a sharp gasp, holding on tight as she kissed him and held him and as he lost himself in that moment knowing nothing but the fact that she had him in her arms, he knew he was where he belonged and everything would be just fine; nothing was impossible, she made everything possible and her love for him had proved that now..._

As Gadget lay on his back recovering his breath Penny turned on to her side and put her arm around him.

"I _told _you it would be okay." She said gently, "It was wonderful for me..."

Gadget looked at her with love shining in his eyes.

He knew it for certain now:

_Yes, it was slightly different._

_But his difficulties were nothing at all, not with someone as loving and patient as Penny..._

And what they had just shared had been so beautiful he knew nothing else mattered; together they were perfect, the love they shared was real love and that was all that mattered to both of them.

Gadget smiled as he looked at the woman he knew he would spend the rest of his life with.

"It was wonderful for me too." He told her, _"You're wonderful. I love you."_

Then he blinked away tears as that wave of all consuming emotion washed over him and he knew for sure he would never find another love as deep as this one, this was the love he had been waiting to find all his life.

Penny held him closer and gave a sigh as she listened to the pounding of his heart, a human beat that was mixed with the sound of its mechanical side working in unison.

"_I love you too."_ She said softly, _"I'll love you forever, Gadget..."_

* * *

Chief Quimby had been sitting alone in his office thinking long and hard about a phone call that had just come through from Mayor Wilson.

As he thought about the conversation they had just shared, he gave a weary sigh and lifted up the phone, reluctantly calling Taylor Braydon's number.

As the phone began to ring he thought about the Mayor and how he never wanted to do anything to dent their long history or their friendship that had evolved from it:

Of _course_ he would do her a favor, even one that he wasn't exactly enthusiastic about...but it made sense in a way:

_And he was sure there could be no better form of stress relief than having two people to yell at when things went wrong instead of one..._

Finally the phone call was answered.

_"Honey!"_ Taylor exclaimed,_ "I've been trying to call you! I love you, come home right now –"_

"This is Chief Quimby." The Chief stated, shaking his head as he wondered how the hell this guy could ever work in law enforcement if he didn't even think to look who was calling him before he spoke on the phone, "I've just had a discussion with Mayor Wilson – who feels that given your enthusiasm for the job, perhaps you should be allowed to have the chance to take a job with the Police Department."

He paused, waiting for a response, but got nothing but silence.

"Taylor?" He wondered.

"Yeah?" Taylor replied.

"Don't you _want_ the job?"

"_What job?"_ He asked him.

Quimby gave a sigh. He could feel his patience wearing thin with this dimwit already...

"I was just explaining that Mayor Wilson feels you should be given the chance to take the job."

"Oh...right." Taylor replied, "So...what do _you_ think about it?"

Quimby gripped the phone a little tighter, feeling sure Taylor was the kind of person who could even make conversation seem like hard work...

"_I'm telling you the job is yours!"_ He snapped, "Be at my office at nine thirty tomorrow morning!"

As Taylor said _Thanks_, Quimby put the phone down, shaking his head again as he wished he had never agreed to Mayor Wilson's request... _but it was too late now, the job was his and tomorrow morning when Gadget came back to work he would find out he had a new partner, Deputy Taylor Braydon..._

* * *

The sun was shining down on a bright new morning in Riverton:

_In her hotel room, Delia Braydon was zipping up her short designer dress that matched the color of the clear sky beyond her hotel window, while her gaze briefly shifted to the timer that she had left on the table. _

_Over at the Police Department, Chief Quimby was in his office, watching the time, waiting for Gadget to turn up._

_Across town at the Cybernetics lab, Lula Smith was signing the paperwork that confirmed Gadget was fit for active duty._

_And over at Gadget's former home, G2 was getting Grace ready for school._

It was a day that had started like any other, but it was also a day that would rapidly spiral into one that would never be forgotten by those who would be involved in the events that would soon unfold...

* * *

Penny watched as Gadget stood in the hallway and adjusted his tie.

"Good luck with your first day back at work." She said, feeling nervous for him as she thought about what he had said as he got up that morning, that today was the day he was looking forward to, because he was back on duty now and he was going to catch the Riverton Bomber...

Gadget put on his trench coat and hat, then he checked his appearance one more time in the mirror and turned back to Penny.

_"I don't need luck."_ He said as their eyes met, _"I've got you now."_

And he leaned closer and gave her a brief kiss.

"I'll see you after work. I'm coming straight home."

Penny smiled back at him.

"I love you." She said softly.

"I love you too, Penny." He replied, and then he left the house, closing the door behind him and walking briskly over to the Gadget Mobile.

The car woke up with a jolt as he got in and closed the door.

"Is it time to go already?" The Gadget Mobile wondered.

Gadget fired up the engine.

"Yes it is," He told the car, "I'm going back to work."

And as he said those words, Gadget was sure he had never felt happier.

As he drove away and headed towards the road that would lead to the cybernetics lab, Gadget was smiling as he thought about this first morning he had woken up in the arms of the woman he loved.

He was still carrying the words she had spoken to him so softly as morning light had crept into the bedroom and he was sure those words would stay engraved on his heart forever and as the Gadget Mobile sped towards the lab, Gadget recalled those words:

"_I love you,"_ Penny had whispered as she lay beside him, _"I love you body and soul. I love your heart and mind, I love the blood and oil in your veins and I love every beat of your heart and every wire and chip and gadget inside your body. It's all you, every part that makes you whole – the metal and the flesh, it's all that makes you who you are- and I would never want you to be any different, you're the man I love, Gadget..."_

He was still carrying those words with him as he reached the lab and as the car came to a halt Gadget got out quickly.

"I won't be long." He told the Gadget Mobile, then he hurried up the steps and entered the building and went off in the direction of Lula's office.

* * *

"Gadget!" Lula said brightly as he reached her open door.

"Hi Lula." He replied, missing the fact that she was so pleased to see him because his mind was now firmly on work, "Have you got my paperwork? I need to give it to the Chief."

Lula got up from her seat and lifted the papers from the desk and handed them to him.

"It's all signed." She told him.

As he took the papers she held onto them for a moment, finally catching his attention.

"And Gadget," She said fondly, as she looked into the eyes of the man who was the father of her youngest child, "Try _not_ to get damaged again. It was a lot of work to put you back together – and I really don't want to think about a day coming when me or Emily might lose you – not ever."

Then she let go of the paperwork and Gadget smiled.

"I'll try not to get blown up again!" He said, feeling touched by her remark but determined to keep the conversation light.

"And don't forget you're having Emily stay over at the weekend." She reminded him as she turned back to her desk, remembering she had put everything down on disc about the nerve problems that Gadget had suffered and she had made a copy to give to the Chief along with his paperwork.

"Emily's coming over at the weekend?" Gadget wondered, thinking this was news to him.

"G2 said as you've separated she thinks it's only fair you both take turns to have her come and stay. "

Lula was still searching through her computer records.

Then she remembered she had to get out another patients records too, and she saw the name _Taylor Braydon_ and drew that disc out.

"She did?" He was saying, "I haven't spoken to her yet about that – but it sounds fine, sure - bring her over to Penny's place at the weekend, I'm..."

Gadget thought about how no one knew about his new relationship yet.

"I'm living with Penny now." He told her, feeling that explanation would be enough for the present time.

Then there was a tap on the door of Lula's office.

"Hi!" Taylor said brightly, walking in with a big smile on his face, "I've come to pick up my records."

Lula found the other disc, marked with Gadget's name and set it aside on the table next to Taylor's.

"Okay Taylor." She said, "Could you just give me five minutes?"

"Sure." He replied, and turned to a table at the back of the room, looking with interest at the small collection of robotic components that were laid out on it.

Lula looked back at Gadget.

"So that's okay?"

"What, Emily coming over?"

"I just wanted to make sure, she's missed you so much lately and I know you've been through a lot but she needs to spend time with you."

"I told you, that's fine." Gadget replied.

And Lula grabbed the disc without checking it, handing him the one marked _Taylor Braydon. _

Gadget didn't check the disc either; he just put it in the pocket of his trench coat along with his paperwork.

"I should get going now, I have to meet with the Chief." He told her.

"So do I." Taylor said.

"I'll give you a ride." Gadget offered.

Taylor's face lit up.

"In the Gadget Mobile? That is one_ cool_ car! Thanks, Gadget!"

And then he turned back to the table as his eyes grew wider and he snatched up a thin piece of wire with a tiny, intricate chip on the end of it.

He held it up and looked back at Lula.

"What's _this?_"

She recognised that keen look in his eyes and gave a weary sigh.

"It's a built in communication line that also has a powerful radio that can tune into any frequency."

He thought about it.

"Can you get radio stations? Can you get _music?_"

"Yes." Lula replied.

As she spoke she caught the look of excitement in his eyes and she wished she hadn't said it.

"I want one!" He said enthusiastically, "I want _this_ one!"

Gadget stared at him as he watched Taylor pester Lula for the wire implant... this guy _wanted_ another modification?

"Taylor," Lula said, "I have to put you to sleep to do this. I have to drill a hole behind your ear and push this thing in to connect between your brain and your hearing."

And Taylor's eyes lit up.

_"Let's do it right now!"_

Lula shook her head.

"The implant takes ten minutes and with your cybernetic restructure the healing time would be around an hour. But you couldn't switch it on for three days because the implant has to settle down and adjust to your own electronic frequency. Otherwise the out put would be too high and-"

She stopped, seeing the way his eyes were shining with excitement.

"Why am I explaining this to a guy with a _robofetish?_" She exclaimed, "This is probably like _phone sex_ to you, Taylor!"

And Gadget started to smile as he turned away slightly..._Taylor really got excited over cybernetics_... until now, Gadget had always had such a difficult time even talking about what had been done to his body, but seeing Taylor so excited at the thought of more metal inside him was making him laugh. He had never been able to think about his own cyborg parts and smile like this before... it was just so _different _to see someone so willing, so _desperate_ to have more work done to the machine side of his body...

Taylor glanced at Gadget.

"Could you be a little bit late? Could you wait for me? I don't think the Chief will mind, he will probably want to see us both together because I'm your new partner."

Gadget's eyes grew wider.

"My new _what?_"

"Partner. I'm your deputy."

And then his eyes sparkled.

"But how I got the job is a conversation for later on... you won't _believe_ what happened to me..."

Lula snatched the wire from his hand.

"Hey I _want_ that!" Taylor complained.

"No." She told him firmly," I'm not installing it today. It's something you need to think about, I don't like the idea of giving anyone parts they don't medically need."

Taylor glanced at Gadget and gave him a wink.

Gadget just stared at him wondering what the hell this guy was up to...

Then Taylor looked sharply out of the window.

"_What is that?"_ He exclaimed.

Lula looked over at the window.

"What?" She wondered.

And Gadget started to laugh as Taylor whipped out his cheque book and leaned on Lula's shoulder as he quickly signed it.

"What are you doing?" Lula demanded.

Taylor tore off the cheque and handed it to her.

"_Please."_ He said, _"I want this. I want it right now."_

And Lula looked at the amount of money he was offering her.

"Oh no, this is way too much, this is three times the cost of this procedure..."

"_Please."_ He said again.

Gadget was still feeling amused as Lula finally gave into to Taylor's demands.

"Okay." She said, "You want it _this_ badly? I'll do it. Let's get this over with before I change my mind!"

And then she grabbed the other disc and handed it to him, not realizing Taylor now had the records that belonged to Gadget.

"You might as well take this now. Once I've finished this procedure I want you _out _of here, Taylor!"

Gadget was still fascinated by Taylor's attitude; the guy was looking absolutely thrilled at the prospect of having more work done...

"_Let's do it!"_ Taylor said excitedly.

* * *

After calling the Police Department and leaving a message for Quimby to say he would be late because he was delayed at the lab with Taylor, Gadget left Lula's office and went through to the main lab.

It was empty because it was early in the morning, empty except for Taylor and Lula. Taylor was lying back on a chair that Lula adjusted as she turned Taylor's head to one side and placed scanning equipment beside him.

"Can you film this for me?" Taylor said as he looked at Gadget.

But Gadget gave no reply, flinching as he saw Lula load up a hypodermic needle.

"This is a _very_ powerful sedative." She explained, "Because you're part cyborg it _has_ to be strong to knock you out."

Taylor remained perfectly relaxed.

"I've heard about that stuff! Why don't you just give me a half dose and I can a buzz from it while you –"

He gave a sharp gasp of pain as the needle went into his arm and Gadget looked away.

_"Make sure you get close ups, I want to see everything..."_ Taylor said to him, then his eyes closed and his body went limp as he lost consciousness.

Lula reached into a tray for a scalpel and as she made small incision she glanced up at Gadget.

"You might not want to stay for this." She warned him.

Gadget shook his head.

"I'm okay." He told her.

Then Lula picked up a small, narrow drill and as it burst into life with a high pitched whine, Gadget changed his mind.

_"I'll wait outside."_ He said, and swiftly left the room.

* * *

Twenty minutes later Lula called Gadget back into the lab.

Taylor was sitting up in the chair and looking into a mirror, studying the tiny metallic stud that now sat behind his ear. The flesh around it was reddened but already healing up.

"It's not very _visible_, is it?" He complained, "I mean, I can't make it come out of my head or anything like that..."

"That's the whole point of it!" Lula told him, "It's not supposed to be something big and sci fi looking."

"I think its working." Taylor said as he concentrated on the small numbers that lit up at the back of his vision.

"It's off right now. But I get how to tune it, I was thinking about it and it started to change on the read out display."

"Well _don't_ switch it on yet!" She said sharply, "It's not ready, you can't do it yet. Come back in seventy two hours and you can try it out while I'm with you and we can make sure it's working properly."

Taylor got up and turned his head, rubbing his stiff neck.

"Are you feeling okay?" Lula wondered.

"I'm fine." He replied, giving her a smile.

"Thanks, Lula."

Then he walked over to Gadget, who was still feeling surprised and amused that someone could _want_ these kind of alterations as much as Taylor did; it was making him think about his own cyborg body and seeing things in a slightly different light, too... once he had been the only cyborg, but now there were others like him- some even like Taylor, who welcomed these alterations...

"We'd better go now." Taylor said to him, "Don't forget the Chief is waiting for us!"

They began to walk out of the lab together.

_"Us?"_ Gadget said to him, "What's this about? I didn't even know I was getting a new colleague!"

"I got the job yesterday." Taylor explained, "I'm your new partner."

They turned a corner and headed back towards the main doors.

"And you'll never guess how I got the job!" Taylor added as he lowered his voice.

They left the building and went down the steps, heading towards the Gadget Mobile.

"I'd love to know how you got the job." Gadget replied curiously.

They got into the Gadget Mobile.

"Hey Gadget, who's your friend?" The car asked him.

"This is Taylor Braydon, my new partner." He told him.

Then Taylor spoke again.

"I asked the Chief for a job and he said no. But then I approached someone _else_ and they pulled some strings for me."

And he gave him a wink.

"_I guess she just couldn't resist my man metal! I don't mind sharing the news with you that I'm actually having an affair with the most powerful woman in Riverton!"_

Gadget stared at him as everything fell into place and he worked out who Taylor was referring to...

"No, I think you'll find Mayor Wilson just _pounced_ on you, Taylor."

_And Gadget gave a slight shiver, recalling all the times he had gone to the Mayor and used the same currency to get a favor regarding Alicia MacKenzie..._

"No, she can't resist me, it's my _man metal!_" Taylor said proudly.

"Actually she's like that with _everyone_." Gadget told him, "You don't have to be a cyborg to attract her attention – you just need to be a guy. _Any_ guy... I've heard the gardeners will only go over to take care of the grounds at her mansion in pairs because there's safety in numbers!"

Taylor's eyes grew wider.

"Really?" He said, "So it wasn't my man metal?"

Gadget started the engine.

"No it _wasn't _your man metal...she's just_ like_ that."

Then as he pulled away from the lab he started to smile.

"_Man metal?"_ He exclaimed, and then he laughed as a thought hit him that came as a surprise, it was one that he welcomed because he had never seen things from this angle before, but he did now:

_He wasn't alone. _

_He wasn't the only cyborg. _

_And getting to know Taylor had really brought it home to him that he wasn't quite as unique as he had been in the beginning, he wasn't alone, there were others like him - and he was never reminded of that more than when he was in the company of his new deputy..._

As they drove he glanced at Taylor and laughed again.

"_Man metal?"_ He repeated, _"I've got a lot of that too!"_

And he still had a smile on his face as the car drove onwards, heading over to Riverton Police Department.


	15. Chapter 15

Chapter 15

Gadget and Taylor got out of the Gadget Mobile.

They were parked outside Riverton Police department and as Gadget walked away, the car spoke up:

"Enjoy your first day back at work!"

"Thanks." Gadget replied.

Taylor smiled and gave a wave to the Gadget Mobile.

"Bye, talking car!" He said warmly, "We'll see you soon!"

And Gadget grabbed Taylor's sleeve and pulled him back, having no more time for delays while Taylor marvelled over his _talking car..._

"Hurry up." He said to him, "We don't want to keep the Chief waiting any longer than we have to."

They were walking through the entrance of building now.

"But I thought you said you called him and he was okay about us being late."

Gadget glanced around and said _Hi_ to a couple of uniformed officers who told him it was good to have him back. Then he turned back to Taylor once more.

"I _didn't_ tell him we were going to be late - I wouldn't do that, he'd yell at me! I just left him a message."

They were walking towards Quimby's office.

Suddenly the Chief stepped out and looked up and down the corridor.

He saw Gadget, walking beside Taylor.

Both of those guys were smiling at him like a pair of idiots, which he didn't appreciate because right now, his blood was a couple of degrees below boiling point...

"Hi Chief." Gadget said brightly,"I'm back, I'm fit for duty."

_"GADGET!"_ Quimby yelled furiously as his face turned bright red, _"GET IN MY OFFICE NOW AND BRING THAT IDIOT WITH YOU!"_

And Taylor looked puzzled, glancing over his shoulder as he wondered who the idiot was...

"What have I done?" Gadget exclaimed, "Why is he yelling? I haven't had a glitch!"

He walked into Quimby's office and sat down and Taylor followed.

"Close the door!" The Chief snapped, and Taylor rose from his seat.

So did Quimby, recalling how he'd wrecked the framework last time he'd called in.

"No, on second thoughts _I'll _close it." He said, and walked towards the door.

Gadget shot out his arm and pushed the door closed.

"There you go, Chief." He said, trying to be helpful. The Chief stumbled against his extended arm and almost lost his balance, putting out his hand to save himself from falling, slamming against a table by the door.

His hand slammed into a box of donuts and as the jam filling splattered his uniform Gadget's arm snapped back into place and he stared in horror.

"Sorry Sir!" He said, "I was just trying to _help!_"

The Chief ripped a handkerchief from his pocket before Gadget could offer him one because he didn't want to risk another of his gadgets causing havoc.

He walked back to his desk wiping the sticky goo from his uniform.

"Sorry." Gadget said again, feeling sure he would have been better off keeping his gadget mode off right now, because he was nervous and he didn't want to cause any more trouble because the Chief was mad at him and he wasn't sure why...

Quimby sat down heavily and glared at him.

_"Have you gone insane?"_ He said angrily.

Gadget just stared at him.

"Sir? I don't understand, it was just an accident..."

_"I mean, about you going over to Mayor Wilson's house and accusing her of being the Riverton bomber!"_

Gadget quickly explained.

"No Chief, it wasn't like that - I just wanted eye witness accounts from everyone at the party and –"

Quimby slammed his fist on the desk.

"That is _not_ the way the Mayor took it! _Get out there and find the bomber, Gadget!_"

As the Chief glared at him Gadget gave a sigh of despair.

"That's what I'm trying to do Chief! I've got all my paperwork, I'm fit for duty. Lula signed it. I've got it right here - _and_ I've got a copy of my damage report."

And he reached into his trench coat and took out the paperwork and the disc.

Quimby snatched it from him and placed it on his desk, then he thought about what Gadget had just said: _Damage report..._

He thought about the days after the bombing, about the time he had gone to the lab and seen Gadget fighting for life after the explosion and as he thought about that day his anger slipped away.

"Okay," He said as his voice softened, "You're back on dutynow, so get out there and do your job – and _don't_ accuse Mayor Wilson again, she was quite offended."

Gadget just nodded, knowing it was pointless to even try explaining that he was just trying to follow all lines of enquiry...

Taylor looked at the Chief.

"What do you want me to do?" He wondered.

The Chief was in no mood for Taylor, not after his outburst at Gadget.

"Just work with Gadget. Help him out." He stated, "Now get out of here, _both_ of you!"

Gadget left the room and Taylor followed, closing the door behind them.

Wood splintered again with a sharp crack; Taylor stared at the damaged doorframe and then Gadget gave his sleeve a tug.

"I know, it was an accident! Let's go before the Chief yells at you over it!" He said to him.

Taylor took his advice and hurried to catch up and they left the Police Department and went back to the Gadget Mobile.

* * *

"I might switch this thing on." Taylor said, thinking of his new implant as he settled back comfortably in the passenger seat.

Gadget got in the driver's side and glanced at Taylor.

"You don't want to do that, Taylor. It's not _ready_ to be switched on."

He looked at Gadget and his eyes widened and for once he wasn't looking excited at the thought of his latest alteration.

"Why can't I switch it on? Will it _kill_ me?"

Gadget smiled as the car started up.

" No Taylor- but the _Chief_ might!"

They were driving off now.

"Why?" Taylor said again.

Gadget just shook his head.

"Just leave the thing alone, okay?"

Taylor frowned as another thought came to mind.

"Where are we going?"

"Over to your place." Gadget replied, "I want to see the garage, and while we're there I want to know if you can remember anything."

"But I don't really know much about it, I _can't_ remember."

"But I'm hoping you might if we go back there together." Gadget told him, "I've got to give this a shot – we have no leads so far. Maybe you have clue right in front of you that you know nothing about."

Taylor fell silent as he thought about the way his mind had played strange tricks on him last time he visited the scene of the explosion.

_"Maybe..."_ He said quietly, and the Gadget Mobile sped on towards Taylor's mansion, while Taylor silently hoped seeing the site of the blast wouldn't bring out those freaky thoughts again, the ones that scared him- _the ones that made it look like Delia had planted the bomb..._

* * *

There's not much left in here, is there?" Gadget's voice echoed around the wrecked garage.

Taylor stood there in the darkened room, wishing Gadget hadn't closed the door behind them.

It was so dark in here now, the only light came from the hole that had been blown through the wall up at the far end of the garage.

Gadget noticed Taylor gave a shiver as he stepped closer to him.

"I know." Gadget said to him, "I felt the same way when I walked into what was left of the Mayor's ballroom. Remember it's over now. And try and think about how it happened, can you do that for me?"

_"I...I don't know!"_ Taylor stammered, taking in a sharp breath as he wrapped his arms tightly abut himself feeling sure that all the metal and artificial strength inside him counted for nothing at this moment, because he was _scared._..

Then he took in another sharp breath, blinking as he saw her standing there:

_Delia was right in front of him, she was handing him...an alarm clock?_

_"Maybe you can get it working for me..." her voice echoed ghostly in his mind, and Taylor stepped back and gave a yell of fright._

Gadget turned sharply.

_"She's here!"_ Taylor yelled, _"She's right there... it's a bomb it's not a clock!"_

And his breathing grew faster as Gadget activated his _go go gadget night vision_ and lenses came down from his hat and covered his eyes.

He scanned the garage and the lenses snapped back into place out of sight once more.

"There's no one else here." He told him, "It's okay!"

Taylor was shaking.

He grabbed him by his arm and led him out of the garage, back into the sunlight, where he leaned against the wall taking in several breaths, shallow at first as he blinked and tried to keep a firm grip on reality.

Gadget stood in front of him, put his hand on his shoulder and looked into his eyes.

"Taylor," He said calmly. "It's okay. You're safe now. Just tell me what you thought you saw in there."

Taylor blinked again and a tear ran down his face.

_"This is crazy!"_

"Just tell me. It doesn't matter if it sounds crazy. What did you see?"

Taylor's heart was racing as he blinked away more tears.

_"I...I thought I saw my wife...I saw Delia give me something that looked like a clock. She asked me to fix it and then..."_

He gave a sob.

_"It blew up? I can't be right, she wouldn't do that...Delia loves me!"_

Taylor was visibly shaken by what he had recalled.

Gadget only had to see the shock and fear in his eyes to know that he couldn't write this off as something that was purely the result of Taylor recalling a traumatic memory...his mind was _not_ playing tricks on him. And as unlikely as it seemed to imagine Delia Braydon being the Riverton Bomber, it was a lead he knew he had to follow up...

"_Am_ I going crazy?" Taylor said anxiously.

Gadget shook his head.

"I'm sure everything's just fine. It's probably just the result of your trauma; having the kind of injuries you sustained would be enough to make anyone confused. Go and sit in the Gadget Mobile. Try and forget about what you saw, at least for now."

Taylor nodded and wiped his eyes.

"I'll go and sit in the talking car." He said," I like your car, Gadget."

Gadget forced a smile.

"Just take it easy." He said, then he watched as Taylor walked across the drive way and got back into the Gadget Mobile.

Then he stepped back into the garage and grabbed his cell phone. This one was one of those times when he wished he had never had his built in cell phone taken out of his hand, it meant his phone was a part of him and instantly available – but after a while he had decided he really didn't want his hand ringing every five minutes, so he had made the decision to have the phone removed.

But he had all the numbers he needed on the phone he carried in his pocket, and right now he was calling Chief Quimby's direct line.

"Gadget?" Quimby said sharply, "What is it now?"

"Sir, I think I've discovered something and it could be important. I took Taylor home to take another look at the site of the explosion and he had some kind of flashback. He said his wife asked him to fix something that looked like a clock and then it blew up in his hands."

There was a pause.

Quimby gave a heavy sigh.

"Gadget," He stated, "That s almost as preposterous as you suggesting the bomber could be Mayor Wilson! Now you're saying Taylor Braydon's _wife_ is the Riverton Bomber? "

"But Chief, listen –"

_"No!"_ The Chief said sharply, "_You_ listen to me! Obviously Taylor's still traumatized by the whole incident. Take him back to the lab and get Lula to check him over. I can't have him working with you while he's still suffering the effects of the explosion."

"But Chief he's not, he was remembering –"

"Do as I say, Gadget!" He snapped, "Some of us have _real_ police work to be getting on with instead of wasting time! Have you forgotten there's a maniac out there somewhere?"

"But Sir if you just _listen_ –"

Quimby hung up on him.

Gadget put the phone back in his pocket and headed back towards the Gadget Mobile, feeling sure the Chief was wrong about Taylor.

* * *

As he got into the car he glanced at him; he looked pale and shaken and Gadget felt certain what he had seen had been more than just his mind playing tricks on him.

The thought that Delia could be the bomber shocked him, Gadget had tried to picture her being the person responsible for so much death and devastation and it seemed unbelievable that the bomber could be Delia Braydon, that elegant woman whose only crime seemed to be that over ambitious streak she had to get her husband elected Mayor no matter what the cost...

Gadget thought about it some more:

_No matter what the cost..._

_A bomb at Mayor Wilson's party?_

_To achieve what?_

He sat in silence as he thought about the explosion.

What _had _that explosion caused?

_Fear? Danger? But why, to destroy what?_

Gadget thought harder.

Then he got it.

"_Safety..."_ He murmured.

Taylor glanced at him.

"What did you say?" He wondered.

Gadget saw the innocent look in his eyes and shook his head.

"Nothing." He replied, feeling sure that Taylor did _not_ need to hear this news right now – but what he thought had been his mind playing tricks on him could well have been his memories playing out accurately:

_Mayor Wilson was always re-elected because she kept Riverton safe._

_What if Delia had planted that bomb to show the whole town how dangerous this place could be?_

Taylor knew nothing, that was obvious...and he couldn't know about this, not yet, not so soon after recovering from his injuries, he just wasn't strong enough to take that kind of news emotionally.

As Gadget thought about Delia Braydon, the more he thought about her the more sense his theory made – and he knew for sure it wasn't impossible that she could indeed be the Riverton Bomber...

He thought about the explosion, remembered the pain of his injuries and then he thought about Delia Braydon..._She was the Riverton Bomber? _

_It wasn't impossible._

He felt a mix of anger and the need to know the truth swirling dark inside him but as he looked at Taylor he hid very trace of it; Taylor was a nice guy, he was one of the good guys, too – not many of them were around in the world today but he was definitely one of the few where left - and he was determined not to say a word about his suspicions until he had found out the truth one way or another...

Gadget started the car.

"The Chief said he wants us to go back to the lab, Taylor. He just wants Lula to check you over and make sure everything's okay."

Taylor's eyes grew wider.

_"There's nothing wrong with me!"_

"I know that but he just wants to make sure, especially after you..."

Gadget chose his words carefully, "Had some kind of _hallucination_ back there. You might still be suffering some kind of stress over the bombing."

"_I'm fine!" _ Taylor insisted, "Listen to me, you're my boss, just listen –"

Gadget turned the car back onto the road and set off towards the lab.

"I'm _not_ your boss. Chief Quimby is. And we _have_ to do this."

Taylor continued to protest that he was perfectly fine and Gadget said nothing in reply as he drove on, still thinking about the possibility that he couldn't ignore..._the possibility that Delia Braydon could be the Riverton Bomber..._

* * *

Quimby had just got off the phone and arranged for maintenance to fix his door again.

The he glanced down at the paperwork and opened it up and checked it, feeling a sense of relief that Gadget was officially fit for active duty.

Then he felt a degree of concern for him as he recalled that Lula Smith had included a damage report.

He drew the disc out of its sleeve and ran it on his computer, still thinking about Gadget and how, at the end of the day, it didn't matter that the man angered him with his clumsiness:

He _cared_ about him.

He cared about him because he was a fine detective when all was said and done – and that man had been through so much and survived so much - it seemed so unfair that he had suffered permanent damage because of the explosion.

He knew he liked Gadget deep down inside, in some ways he felt almost a fatherly bond towards him - but he certainly had no intention of _ever_ telling him that...

_The disc began to play._

And Quimby frowned, wondering if Lula had stuck the records over a pre used disc - _this was all about Taylor Braydon's cybernetic structure..._

He grabbed the remote control and went to the next part.

Again, it was just Taylor, with Lula speaking about how he was progressing while she showed the camera how his cybernetic skin was closing up over metal that covered his shoulder.

Quimby ran further through the recordings.

Then he saw Taylor recovering from his surgery, on life support while his wife sat at his beside.

_Delia Braydon was crying._

The Chief looked away, knowing for sure Gadget had picked up the wrong recording, deciding to switch it off because he knew he had no business watching such a private moment between Taylor and his wife.

Then as Delia's voice cut clear through the audio, his finger hovered over the stop button on the remote.

_"I've done some terrible things..."_ She said tearfully as she spoke to her unconscious husband.

The Chief looked back at the screen and kept his eyes fixed there, staring hard as he took in every single word she said and goose bumps began to crawl over his skin as her words turned his blood to ice.

His eyes grew wider as she continued to speak.

"_I'm the Riverton Bomber..."_

The Chief continued to stare at the screen for a moment, thoughts ran through his head that wanted to voice aloud but he could only find these few words that escaped his lips:

"You're right... you're _right,_ Gadget!"

Then he grabbed the phone.

He called Gadget's number but it was already in use.

The Chief took in a deep breath and tried to stay calm as he switched to an internal number and barked an order that Delia Braydon had to be found.

Then he tried Gadget's number again, but he was still taking a call.

The Chief closed his eyes for a moment as he took in another breath and reminded himself he had to stay calm about this; _Gadget was right, he was right about Delia Braydon..._

Then he called his number again, praying he would pick up the call...

* * *

Gadget had stopped the car, pulling over to the side of the road while he spoke in a warm voice to Penny.

"Thanks for calling me, honey. And yes I know it's almost lunchtime and no I won't forget to eat! Thanks for reminding me..."

Taylor gave a sigh as he wondered how long Gadget would take on the phone to his girlfriend.

Gadget was still listening, then he laughed.

"I can only guess what you might be planning to buy at the mall, Penny...even _my_ great detective skills can't figure that one out!"

Then she spoke again and Gadget's eyes lit up.

"Sounds good to me." He murmured, "See you later, I have to get back to work."

Then he put the phone down.

Taylor gave another impatient sigh.

" Can we please get a move on? I just want to get over to the lab and hear Lula tell me there's nothing wrong, so I can get back out here with you and get some police work done!"

"I know." Gadget replied, "Sorry about that, I was just talking to my girlfriend."

Then the phone rang again.

"There she is _again!_" Taylor complained.

Gadget frowned as he looked at the number.

"No, this is Quimby."

He answered the call quickly.

"Chief?"

"Gadget, listen to me – this is urgent!" He said quickly, "You were right, I have evidence right in front of me...Delia Braydon's the bomber. I've just run a check on her whereabouts and we traced her last transaction on her credit card to the Riverton Majestic Hotel. She's on the top floor, room 209. I'm sending for back up and I'm coming over with marksmen too. We'll be over on the roof of the big apartment block beside the hotel, just in case. Get over there right now – and Gadget, _don't_ say a word to Taylor. He knows nothing and it needs to stay that way until she's apprehended, have you got that?"

"Yes Chief I'm on my way!"

Gadget ended the call.

"Gadget Mobile," He said, "Get us over to the Riverton Majestic. _Make it fast._"

As the rocket booster unfolded from the back of the car, Taylor's eyes lit up.

"_Cool!"_ He exclaimed.

"Hang onto your seat." Gadget told him.

"Why?" He wondered.

The rocket power fired into life.

"_Hold on to your pockets here come the rockets!"_ The car exclaimed, launching the car at speed that slammed Gadget and Taylor hard against their seats while Taylor hung onto the seat with his eyes wide as he wondered if this car would actually be able to come to a safe stop when they got to the hotel.

Gadget kept his eyes on the road ahead as Taylor clung on fearfully and the car became a blur, burning up the highway as it raced towards its destination.

* * *

The rocket power went out and folded back out of sight as the car glided to a smooth stop outside the hotel.

Gadget got out of the car and looked back at Taylor.

"You have to wait here."

"But I want to come! I want to do some police work!" He complained.

"You're my deputy." Gadget told him, "You have to stay in the car when I'm investigating an incident."

Taylor frowned.

"Why?"

"Rules." Gadget replied, hoping this explanation would be enough.

"Why?" Taylor said again.

_"Just stay here and look after the Gadget Mobile, that's an order!"_ He snapped, then he hurried up to the entrance of the hotel went inside.

Taylor gave a sigh as he looked up at the tall building, then he sank back into the passenger seat.

_"It's not fair."_ He said, "I _wanted_ to go with him..."

"Trust me," The car told him, "G Man wants you to stay here for a reason – so just _do_ it."

"I know..." He replied, feeling somewhere between bored and sliding into a sulky mood.

Then he remembered his new wire that was now completely healed and he reached up and touched the small piece of metal.

"I'm going to try out my new implant." He stated, _"Just for a little while..."_

And he blinked, watching the display at the back of his vision switch from _off_ to _on_.

Numbers began to scroll as he tuned the radio.

Then he smiled as he started to bump about in his seat, listening to thumping dance music playing in his head from Riverton FM Radio.

_"Hey Taylor!"_ Gadget Mobile protested, _"Turn that thing off, the frequency is too high, you're screwing up my sat nav!"_

But Taylor kept moving in his seat, eyes closed as he lost himself in the dance music that was pumping inside his head.

And while he did that, nearby traffic signs went crazy, jumping from stop to start, cars skidded, narrowly avoiding collision and as the streets came to a standstill a huge electronic billboard stopped rotating advertisements and instead the wide screen became covered with static.

_But Taylor knew none of this, because his eyes were still shut as moved to the music..._

* * *

Delia Braydon was ready.

She was standing by the window and looking out at the view of Riverton's largest shopping mall.

She crossed the room and picked up the remote control device and turned the box over in her hands.

Then she glanced at the time:

_It was five minutes to midday..._

Then the phone rang.

Her painted, heavily mascara coated eyes grew wider as she stared at the ringing phone.

_Who the hell would be calling her here?_

She snatched up the phone.

"Mrs Braydon?" Said a member of the hotel staff, "This is just a courtesy call, we wondered if you would be eating lunch in your room today?"

Delia felt her head spin in confusion.

_They hadn't called her about lunch before, she had always called them..._

"No." She said quickly, "I'll be leaving soon."

Then she put the phone down and as her heart began to pound she kept a tight grip on the box in her hand and made her way to the door.

She opened it carefully, seeing no one outside.

Then she left the room and began to hurry towards the fire exit.

Then she heard elevator doors slide open and as she glanced back she saw Inspector Gadget step out.

She caught her breath and started to run, turning the corner and reaching the fire escape.

She wrenched open the door and pushed it shut behind her, breathless as she wondered what to do next:

_Lose the box?_

_No._

_She was holding on to it. _

_They knew, she was sure of it as she ran up the final flight of steps and pushed open the door to the rooftop._

As she closed the door behind her, on stepping out the wide sky seemed to hit her in a dizzying way and she dragged in a breath, not thinking about how high up she was or how there could be no way down from here unless she could make some kind of a bargain, using that remote control in her hand as the only currency she had left...

She heard him coming after her; metallic sounds on the stairway as his extended legs took those stairs three at a time, then a hand snaked out on a metal cable and shoved open the rooftop doorway.

She stepped back further until she was up against the rail and had no where left to go and that box was firmly in her grasp, her thumb against the switch that would bring down the mall as soon as she flicked it.

Gadget came out of the doorway and she gasped at the sight of his almost alien appearance as his arms and legs snapped back into place.

He took two steps closer and then stopped, staring at the Riverton Bomber:

_Delia Braydon?_

_This woman was the person who caused so much death and devastation?_

It was still a shock to see her, to know it was her, to know there were no monsters out there after all...the bomber who had destroyed the Mayor's house, when unknown, had been in Gadget's mind like something out of a nightmare – evil, faceless, shadowed...

_Not any more._

His eyes narrowed as he looked at her feeling nothing but anger.

_This was the person who had killed fourteen innocent people?_  
_This was the person whose bomb had blown up in his face and put him through hell, put his family through the same and left him with damage that could never be repaired?_

_This was The Riverton Bomber, _ _a rich bored housewife with nothing better to do for most of her time than spend money on designer clothes and shoes, who had married for money and treated her husband like a meal ticket, who had wanted to go to any lengths to see him elected mayor of this town...for what, so she could walk all over him and have Riverton in the palm of her hand?_

"Don't come near me!" She warned him sharply.

As she raised the box in her hand Gadget felt a sense of dread sweep over him..._ it was a remote control, to trigger what explosive device this time?_

_"Where's the bomb?"_ He yelled.

The wind blew her fair hair and she swept it away from her eyes with a flick of her fingertips.

"_The mall."_ She stated. "Four bombs, four floors, all primed and ready to go unless you let _me _go!"

Gadget blinked and looked fearfully across at the Riverton mall:

_Penny was in the mall..._

He took in a shaky breath and tried to remember Penny was not the _only_ person in the mall. There were hundreds of people in there right now and all of them would die if he didn't stop this crazy woman... He knew she was crazy, he could see it in her eyes. _She had a crazy look about her, along with something else that said she knew she had nothing left to lose any more..._

"Listen to me." He said, trying to stay calm and trying not to think about Penny and how afraid he was for her, "I think I've worked it out. I think the first bomb wasn't meant to be so big I think you made a mistake, it wasn't intentional!"

Anger burned in her eyes as tears blurred her vision.

"Why couldn't you keep away?" She demanded.

The box was in her hand and her thumb was a fraction from the switch.

There was no gadget in existence that he could have used and reached her in time to stop her thumb from hitting the trigger. _He couldn't reach her and if he tried the mall would go up, there was no escaping that fact..._

Delia spoke again.

"Didn't you learn the first time? Didn't that explosion _damage_ you enough?"

_And Gadget thought about the blast, about the pain, about the long hard fight to stay alive..._

Then those words came back to him that were engraved upon his heart, those words that Penny had said that very morning while they were lying together:

"_I love you body and soul. I love your heart and mind, I love the blood and oil in your veins and I love every beat of your heart and every wire and chip and gadget inside your body. It's all you, every part that makes you whole – the metal and the flesh, it's all that makes you who you are- and I would never want you to be any different, you're the man I love, Gadget..."_

And as he thought about those words that he was sure he would carry until the day he died, Gadget looked back at Delia Braydon and felt no fear.

"_No."_ He stated, stepping closer to her, "You _haven't_ taken anything from me. There's nothing in me so weak that you could smash it because I _still_ have my life and I _still_ have those who love me and there's not a damned thing you can do, there's not a bomb you could _ever_ put together that can change that! _You can't hurt me any more!_"

Then Gadget held out his hand, extending his wrist a fraction, enough to remind her he could easily extend his arm much further if he needed to.

_"Give me the box, Delia."_ He said coldly, _"Hand it over..."_

* * *

A short distance away on the roof top of a nearby building, Chief Quimby stood beside two marksmen who were crouched low with their sights on Delia Braydon.

Then Gadget stepped closer, blocking the target.

"Sir?" Said the shooter closest to Quimby, "What do I do? I had her, she's got the control in her hand and I had her but Inspector Gadget got in the way – shall I just shoot anyway, I mean, he's a robot, you can fix him, right?"

The Chief smashed his hand onto the barrel of the gun, sending the butt of the weapon backwards, bruising the man's ribs as he sat there in position.

"He's a _cyborg _not a robot!" Quimby fumed, "Do _not_ fire unless I give the order- and make sure Gadget is clear of the target, _clear_ – have you got that?"

The gunman nodded, and kept his aim on the Riverton Bomber and his finger away from the trigger because Gadget was still blocking the view to take a clear shot...

* * *

Delia Braydon was keeping a firm grip on the control in her hand.

"We can work something out." Gadget said to her, "I get it now, I think maybe you were trying to confess to me back at the lab after Taylor was injured. I don't think you intended things to go this far. We can explain that."

Delia shook her head.

"I'm still locked up for the rest of my life, what difference does it make? You _can't_ help me!"

"I can try if you please put that box _down!_"

Delia blinked away more tears as she shook her head.

"You're _lying,_ Inspector! You won't help me get out of here after what I did to you!"

"That's not true." He said to her, "I believe in being fair I want to give you a chance to explain yourself, I want the court to hear your side of the story too. I'll make sure they do - just put the box down. Put it down and let me pick it up and switch it off."

Gadget thought of Penny and his voice trembled as he spoke again:

"Please, Delia..._don't_ do this."

Delia shook her head as she glanced over at the mall and then back at the box in her hands.

"Don't do this." Gadget said again, _"Please..."_

__She looked back at Gadget and anger blazed in her eyes.

"_I don't have a choice." _She stated bitterly, _"It's over."_

And she flicked the switch, sending the signal to detonate the explosives...four floors, four bombs...

_It was too late now... _


	16. Chapter 16

Chapter 16

Gadget stared in horror at the box in Delia's hands.

He thought of Penny and turned to the mall.

_The mall was still standing_.

Delia gave a gasp as her eyes grew wider and she flicked the switch again and again, sharply clicking it over and over and over...

And Gadget looked past the mall, all the way down to the ground, where the traffic had halted in chaos and an electronic billboard had a screen showing nothing but grey static.

He gave a brief sigh of relief as he thought of Penny, then he thought of Taylor, who he guessed had turned on that wire implant before it was ready and sent the traffic signals into chaos and blocked the function of the billboard...

_His signal had also blocked the detonation device._

_Delia's remote control was worthless._

She glared at the box and snapped the switch back and forth over and over as she gave a sob.

Gadget walked over to her and partially extended one arm, snatching the box and turning it off.

She struggled but his metallic grip was too strong and as he prised it from her fingertips she gave a scream and then she sobbed again.

Gadget wound his arm back into his body once more and placed the box in his pocket, safely out of her reach.

"You're coming with me." He told her, "You're under arrest, Delia."

As he reached for her she struggled and Gadget grabbed her wrists, exercising just enough cyborg force to subdue her without breaking bones.

As he held her in his grasp she looked into his eyes and gave another sob.

"_I never meant for any of this to happen!"_

"But it did." Gadget told her, "And you have to live with the consequences."

Delia weakly struggled again.

"Let's do this nice and calmly." Gadget said, _"Go go Gadget handcuffs..."_

And the cuffs slid out from his wrist.

He paused and looked into her eyes.

"Now it IS over." He promised her, "And yes you _are_ going to jail."

Delia gave another sob and drew her hand back sharply as Gadget reached to cuff her.

For a moment she broke free of him.

* * *

On the other roof, Chief Quimby lowered his binoculars.

He kept his eyes firmly trained on the scene without looking up close, not needing to see any more as Delia struggled and then broke free of Gadget.

_He was thinking about the fourteen people killed in the blast, about Gadget's injuries, about Taylor Braydon and the bomb that had blown him up so badly only cybernetic surgery had saved his life... _

He touched the shoulder of the marksman beside him.

Delia Braydon had just staggered free of Gadget's grasp.

_There was no death penalty in Riverton, only life sentences for murderers._

_Delia Braydon would get to keep her life, even though the people she killed had no say in losing theirs._

_The Chief had his own views on terrorist acts and what ought to be done about them._

_And Delia Braydon had just resisted arrest and broken free of Inspector Gadget..._

"_Open fire."_ Quimby stated.

* * *

"Don't fight this." Gadget had said as she stepped back, "Let me put the cuffs on. I _promise_ you no one will hurt you."

And Delia Braydon had looked into his eyes, knowing there was no where left to run and blinked tearfully and taken a step towards him.

Then a crack split the air and she was thrown side ways, as she slammed against Gadget he caught her and her body sagged in his arms and her head rolled back and he saw blood from a neat bullet wound running from her temple.

She blinked again and a tear ran from the corner of her eye as she looked up at him.

The wind was blowing her hair over her face as her eyes flickered and her body twitched and Gadget swept her hair off her face, looking down at her as Delia Braydon finally stopped breathing.

Then he held on to her for a moment, feeling anger that it had come to this:

She was the Riverton Bomber, he had wanted to track her down and make her pay for what she had done...

_But he had wanted to send her to jail._

He had _not _wanted this...

He gently laid her body on the ground and took in a sharp breath as he blinked away tears and saw the Chief and the men with guns moving out of position now.

_To Gadget, this wasn't justice._

_But it was the end of the Riverton Bomber..._

* * *

Penny had been shopping for lingerie that she had quickly covered up with two bottles of massage lotion and some rose scented bubble bath as G2 bumped into her shopping cart.

"Penny!" She had exclaimed in surprise, "Nice to see you!"

And Penny smiled and checked the lingerie was covered up.

"What are you doing in here?" She wondered.

G2 glanced around the store.

"I was thinking about buying some nice romantic candles, you know, the relaxing kind, the sort that set the mood to make a guest welcome, maybe for dinner."

"Oh I see." Penny replied, "So who are you thinking of inviting over?"

G2's electric blue eyes sparkled.

"I was thinking about Taylor Braydon. He is such a _nice_ guy!"

Penny smiled again.

"He certainly is." She agreed, "Gadget really likes the guy a lot. He started working with him today; he was telling me on the phone what a nice guy he is."

G2 was still thinking about what Penny had told her.

"He works with Gadget? I like the idea of that. I'm sure the two of them will get along very well!"

Then the alarm sounded in the store and security began telling people to leave by the nearest available exit.

Penny and G2 followed the other shoppers, out of the mall and into the street.

"What's going on?" Penny wondered, then she moved back as cops started to move people away from the building.

"_They just shot the Riverton bomber." _She heard someone say, and as she stepped aside to avoid the crush, she saw a corpse being brought down the steps from the hotel in a partially open body bag.

As lifeless hand slipped out of the bag and a jewelled bracelet caught the sunlight, Penny gave a gasp.

"_Delia Braydon?"_ She exclaimed.

Then Gadget came out through the door and walked down the steps.

Penny ran over to him, yelling his name and as they collided he held her in his arms and she told him she loved him, she thanked God he was safe, and then she kissed him.

_And then she remembered G2 had been standing beside her the whole time..._

Gadget pulled back from Penny's embrace and looked at G2.

"Sorry." Penny said, "I really am – it just happened, it happened after you broke up with him...we didn't expect it, G2! _Please understand!_"

G2 was processing this situation with her usual logical thinking.

"Well," She said thoughtfully, "It makes sense that the two of you have established a bond deep and strong enough to form lasting love and commitment. But I will say _this_, Gadget..."

And she looked into Penny's eyes and Penny saw no malice there, no bitterness – G2 was just being her usual logical self...

"I very much like to think that the two of you will have a successful relationship." She said, "But I feel I must warn you that if you turn him down in bed more than thirty percent of the time, there is, by my calculations, a seventy three percent chance that he _will_ actively seek out an alternative sexual partner."

Gadget stared at her.

"That's _not_ accurate!"

G2 frowned, silently recalculating.

"_Yes it is."_ She confirmed, then she looked at Penny again.

"And don't forget– _Alicia MacKenzie_. The custody of Grace is shared between me and Gadget- so now between me and Gadget and _you_. And one day Alicia will be out of jail. When that day comes,_ don't_ leave him alone with Alicia. _I wouldn't_, and I advise you to follow suit."

And Gadget continued to stare at her.

G2 hadn't meant to be so harsh, but he felt like her words had cut him to the bone.

"I would _never_ cheat on Penny!" He insisted.

But G2's thoughts were elsewhere now.

"So Taylor Braydon's working with you now? I'm glad. I can see the two of you becoming good friends. Where is he?"

At the mention of Taylor's name, Gadget's eyes grew wider.

_"Taylor!"_ He said in alarm, and ran across the street to where the Gadget Mobile was parked.

Taylor was sitting in the passenger seat, his eyes closed as he moved to the dance music that pumped in his head.

Gadget tapped him on the shoulder and Taylor opened his eyes.

"_OH, HI GADGET!"_ He shouted over the noise of the music inside his head.

"_TURN IT OFF SLOWLY!"_ Gadget yelled back.

"_WHAT?"_ Taylor shouted.

"OFF – _SLOWLY!_" Gadget repeated.

Taylor pointed to the side of his head.

"THE MUSIC?"

Gadget nodded.

"OKAY!" Taylor said loudly, and focussed on the control at the back of his eye, sharply switching it off.

He felt a crack as the antenna went dead, then he slumped forward, hitting his head on the dashboard of the Gadget Mobile.

"Taylor!" G2 cried in alarm, pulling the passenger door open and grabbing hold of him.

"What happened?" Penny said in fright as she watched G2 lower the seat and lay him down on it.

"He's okay!" Gadget insisted, "But that was a powerful piece of equipment. He should have turned it down before it turned it off- it caused a power surge. He'll be okay, he's just done the cyborg equivalent of knocking himself out, but electronically."

Then he felt a flicker of concern for his new friend.

"Taylor?" He said as he leaned closer.

_But he couldn't get too close._

G2 was still beside him.

She ran her hand over his hair, pushing it off his face.

"Wake up sweet heart." She said softly.

Penny and Gadget exchanged a glance.

"_Sweetheart?"_ Gadget wondered.

Then as Taylor opened his eyes and Gadget saw the relief that was clear in G2's expression he understood; she liked him. Which was fine by Gadget, because ever since he had separated from her he had hoped she would eventually meet a nice guy, and guys didn't come along any nicer than Taylor Braydon...

As Taylor opened his eyes he sat up sharply, looking around him.

He saw the building being sectioned off across the street and a body being taken away in a body bag.

"What happened?"

"We caught the Riverton bomber." Gadget said, and G2 stepped aside as Gadget got into the car and sat with Taylor.

"We did?" Taylor wondered.

Then he looked blankly at Gadget.

"_Who was he?"_

Gadget felt an ache in his heart as he looked at his new friend: _Taylor would not take this well but he had to know the truth..._

"I'm sorry but you were right, Taylor. What you saw wasn't a hallucination. It _was_ your wife. _Delia was the bomber_. She resisted arrest and they had to shoot her. She's dead. She was about to blow up the mall."

Taylor's eyes filled with tears and he gave a sob.

"_She_ did it?" He said tearfully, _"Delia killed all those people? Delia tried to kill me too?"_

Gadget nodded.

"I'm sorry." He said, and gave Taylor a hug.

Taylor clung to him and sobbed hard against him.

The Gadget gently prised himself away from his embrace.

"I think you should go home and get some rest." He told him, "The Chief will understand. And by the way, you're a hero!"

Taylor blinked and wiped his eyes as a spark of optimism came swiftly back.

"_I am?"_

Gadget smiled.

"She had a bomb on every floor of the mall. She had it set to go off by remote control. But your internal radio wasn't ready to be used. It was way too powerful. You didn't just stop the traffic and mess up the billboard, you jammed her signal. You saved hundreds of lives, Taylor."

On hearing this, his eyes lit up and Taylor smiled.

"_I did?"_

"Yes you did." Gadget promised him.

Taylor was still smiling as he looked at G2.

"_I'm a hero!"_ He exclaimed, and as she smiled back at him she felt as if her heart could melt.

"I know you are" She said softly.

"I think I'd better take you home." Gadget said.

Taylor nodded.

"And the first thing I'm doing when I get home is throwing out her stuff!" He said, feeling hurt and angry all over again, "I don't think she loved me at all..."

G2 looked at him with bright electric blue eyes.

"I'm sure it won't be long before you find someone who _really _deserves you." She said.

And Gadget glanced at her.

_"That makes sense."_ He said quietly, and he smiled knowingly and so did G2.

"You're a very understanding man, Gadget." She told him.

And as he looked back at her he felt no trace of regret that their marriage was over; he knew he would never lose her friendship and that was what mattered the most.

"I'll see you at home." Penny told him.

"I won't be late." He promised her, then he started up the engine and drove away, taking Taylor home to get some much needed rest.

* * *

It was growing late by the time Gadget finished up going over paperwork with the Chief and closing the case on the Riverton Bomber.

By the time he got home the Gadget Mobile was just about ready to fall into a deep sleep as the engine switched off, and the car was snoring before he even got out and walked towards Penny's front door.

Gadget let himself into the house quietly; it was late and Maxie was fast asleep in bed.

Brain jumped up from his basket and ran over to him wagging his tail and Gadget patted his head as the dog looked up at him with understanding eyes: He just _knew_ Gadget had been through a very hard day...

"Good boy, go back to sleep." Gadget said quietly.

As the dog trotted back into the kitchen towards his soft basket, Gadget hung up his hat and then did the same with his trench coat, then he went quietly off to bed, opening the bedroom door silently because he felt sure Penny would be asleep by now.

As he closed the door the light snapped on.

Penny was sitting up in bed wearing a pale thin night gown that was edged with lace.

"I haven't seen that before!" He said as he smiled.

Penny watched him as he stood there taking off his tie and then his shirt.

"You're right, you haven't seen it before, I bought it today." She replied softly.

As he carried on getting undressed he felt her eyes roaming over his body, his reconstructed, rebuilt body that was part human and part machine, with scars in places where he wished he didn't have them - and it just didn't matter because he knew she loved him, she loved him and before her eyes he felt like he had no reason to hide anything. He didn't care that he wasn't undressing in the dark and he didn't care that she could see every imperfection in the soft light as he got into bed and put his arms around her.

Gadget gave a sigh as he rested there, warm against her body.

Penny kissed him gently.

"I'm so glad the bomber's gone." She said quietly, and as she said those words she looked at his face and ran her hand over flesh that had once been destroyed by the blast as she remembered the mask he had been forced to wear for so long.

Gadget saw a flicker of pain in her eyes as she thought about all they had been through and he smiled.

"It's over now, Penny. We can get on with our lives now."

Penny gave a sigh as she thought about a very valid point G2 had made earlier on.

"_What about Alicia MacKenzie?"_

As they lay so close sharing the same pillow Gadget looked at her in surprise.

"What about her? It's _over_, you know that!"

"I don't mean about you and her." Penny said, "I mean about her parole hearing."

Gadget moved closer to Penny and rested his head on her shoulder.

"I don't know what to do." He admitted, "If I objected to her release it would solve everything but it's not fair and I can't be like that. I keep thinking about what she was like last time I saw her, how much she hated me –"

"She _doesn't _hate you." Penny said, feeling very sure of that fact, "You and G2 have custody of her daughter. You're raising Grace for her. She doesn't hate you – she just feels helpless. And I know how I would feel if I was separated from my son – if I was locked away and couldn't see Maxie I would go crazy too."

_Her words had made him think._

"How would you feel if you knew you could never see Maxie ever again?" He wondered.

Penny answered without hesitation.

"_It would kill me."_ She replied.

And then she held onto Gadget and closed her eyes, happy to be in the arms of the man she loved, the man who she would wake in the morning with kisses while she ran her hands over his flesh and metal body and told him how much she loved him. And while she thought about doing those things when morning came, she smiled as she slid into a contented sleep, while Gadget stayed awake beside her, thinking about Alicia MacKenzie and wondering what he ought to do – decisions like this were never easy to make, but all he knew for sure was the fact that he couldn't live with anything less than knowing he had done the right thing...

* * *

_Two weeks passed. _

After the press had finished with all the headlines about the bomber and how Gadget had caught her, after Taylor had decided to come back to work because all he wanted to do was be a crime fighter, life seemed to slide into a new kind of normal routine.

Mayor Wilson had made the most of a large press conference, smiling and posing for pictures with Riverton's heroes – Inspector Gadget and his new partner, Deputy Taylor Braydon. And then life had settled down quietly, with Gadget and Taylor finding themselves policing a now crime-free, quiet Riverton once more.

Then suddenly Gadget got up one morning called Taylor on the phone and then he went back to bed, putting his arms around Penny, who kissed him and looked at him curiously.

"You should be getting ready for work." She said.

"I'm taking the day off." Gadget told her, "I've told the parole board I'm going to be there for Alicia's hearing tomorrow. But I don't know what to say to them."

And he held her closer and gave a weary sigh.

"Part of me wishes I could just turn my back and walk away from the situation." He admitted, "But I can't do it, Penny. I'm not in love with her, I've got no reason to care –"

_"But you do."_

Penny was looking into his eyes now.

"You do care because you're like that. You can't turn your back and be cold hearted. I understand, I love you just the way you are and I wouldn't expect you to feel any other way."

Penny's words had warmed his heart but he still looked at her with despair in his eyes.

"I don't know what to do!"

Penny smiled.

"You need to write a statement for her parole hearing? Then we'll do it together. I'll help you with it."

Gadget stared at her.

"You want to help _Alicia?_"

"No, I want to help _you._" Penny told him, "So let's get up and think about this and write down everything you want to say. It doesn't have to be perfect; we can set it out properly later on."

Gadget looked into her eyes and felt that all consuming wave of love wash over him as he looked into her eyes and thought yet again how lucky he was to be loved by such an amazing woman.

"Thank you so much." He said, meaning it from the bottom of his heart.

Penny smiled and kissed him softly.

"You're welcome." She said, then she got up.

"I'll have a shower, get dressed, get Maxie ready for school and after I've taken him to school we'll work this out."

Gadget just smiled back at her as he spotted a sparkle in her eyes.

"And after that we can have a nice long lazy day in bed." She added.

"_Together?"_ Gadget said playfully.

"Together." She promised him.

Then she wondered about something.

"What about Taylor? Can he cope on his own for the day?"

Gadget relaxed as he leaned back on the soft pillows that carried the scent of Penny's hair.

"There's no crime in Riverton. He doesn't have much to do. I've told him to come over and pick up the Gadget Mobile – the car can take care of him for the day! I've told him to park up on the highway and check for speeders."

Penny laughed.

"Then I guess he's got a quiet day ahead of him!" She remarked.

Gadget thought of Taylor and smiled; there was no crime in Riverton, catching speeders on the highway was about the only job left to do around here..._Taylor was sure to have a pretty quiet day..._

* * *

Two hours later, Taylor was parked up on the side of the road looking out at the fields.

He gave a heavy sigh.

"It's so quiet this time of day." He complained, "I haven't caught anyone exceeding the speed limit!"

"That's because no one's been speeding yet!" The car replied, "Gadget usually parks up by the _Welcome to Riverton_ sign."

"I was up there for an hour!" Taylor replied, "There was no one about!"

He propped his elbow against the open window and then leaned back and gave a sigh.

"Oh this is boring! I'm going to do it again!"

The car laughed.

"But I told you before –"

"No" Taylor said, "It's _fun!_"

And he straightened up in his seat, reaching down slowly to the passenger seat beside him.

_"Go go Gadget radar gun!"_ He yelled, snatching it up like a weapon.

"No." The car said flatly, "You can't _go go gadget anything_ – you're _not_ Gadget!"

He gave another sigh and put the radar gun down again.

_"But it's fun to pretend..."_

Then he glanced up, catching sight of a small white convertible car parked just ahead on the other side of the road.

The driver was trying to start the car with no success.

The driver was a young woman with fair hair that fell to her shoulders.

Taylor's eyes lit up as he ran his fingers through his hair and popped open a couple of his shirt buttons to expose his micro chips.

"I've got to go, Gadget Mobile!" He announced,"I see a damsel in distress!"

And Taylor got out of the car.

"Well don't take too long!" The car told him, "If I see a speeder, I'll yell out to you!"

But Taylor didn't listen as he strode across the empty road with big smile on his face.

The driver of the car was trying the ignition again with no success.

She gave up and gave a sigh.

_"What the hell is wrong with this thing?"_ She said aloud.

Taylor leaned against the door of the convertible.

"Good morning Miss." He said, giving her his warmest smile, "I'm Deputy Taylor Braydon, may I be of assistance?"

And she looked up at him and smiled.

"Deputy Braydon? I read about you in the newspaper! Nice to meet you! Well, it would be nice to meet you but my car's stalled and I don't know what to do. I've only just got it back from the garage a few days ago, it's been serviced, I don't understand what's gone wrong."

Taylor's eyes sparkled as he looked at the young woman. The breeze was blowing her blonde hair and she took off her glasses and ran her fingers through her hair as she gave a sigh.

"Is there _any_ chance you could take a look for me and see if you can fix the problem?"

Taylor's eyes lit up.

_"Sure I can!"_ He said, going around to the front of the car and popping the hood.

She got out of the car and joined him, putting her glasses back on as she looked at the engine.

"So does it look like there's anything wrong?" She wondered.

Taylor glanced inside and looked back at her.

"Well... it's an engine and I _think_ all the parts are there..." He said confidently.

"Right..." She replied, wondering if he knew anything at all about cars.

He looked back at her, suddenly very aware of the micro chips exposed by his partly open shirt.

"What's your name?"

"Evie." She replied.

"I'm Taylor." He said, still smiling at her, "I'm a cyborg. That's why I have these microchips. Do you know any cyborg people?"

She smiled back at him and shook her head, thinking Deputy Taylor was rather cute, even if he didn't know much about cars...

"_Hey Taylor!" _yelled the Gadget Mobile, _"Keep your eyes open!"_

Taylor ignored the car as he smiled at Evie.

"Well you do now – you've met _me!_" He said happily.

While his back was turned a car sped past like a blur, bringing with it a rush of wind that blew his hair about.

Taylor turned back to the road, saw nothing and turned back to Evie as he ran his fingers through his hair to tidy himself up.

"It's _very_ breezy today!" He remarked.

Then he leaned into the car engine and took a closer look.

"Can you see what the problem is?" She wondered.

Taylor straightened up and smiled again.

"Oh yes, and I'm pleased to tell you that I can _definitely_ get you turned on!" He exclaimed, "But I'll have to roll up my sleeve to do it!"

Evie started to laugh.

"_What?"_

Taylor rolled up his sleeve and turned his arm over, exposing a metal seam that ran from his wrist to his elbow.

"I can pull out this connector and attach it to your battery." He explained, "Get in the car and start it up when I tell you to."

"_Taylor!"_ The car yelled again.

There was a rush of wind and Taylor swore he thought, just for a second that he heard the roar of an engine but as he looked over his shoulder he saw just a cloud of dust.

"You missed _another _one!" The Gadget Mobile complained.

"I'm busy." Taylor called back, leaning further towards the engine as he drew out his connection and hooked it up to the battery.

Then he glanced up at Evie.

"Start the engine!"

She turned the keys in the ignition and Taylor felt a mild jolt as the car started up again.

He unhooked the connector and slid it back into place and rolled down his sleeve, then waked around to the driver's side of the car.

Evie looked up at him and smiled.

"Thanks for your help, Deputy Taylor."

He gave her a bright smile as his eyes sparkled.

"_I'm glad me and my rod have put a smile back on your face!"_ He said proudly, then as she giggled and said goodbye, he watched her drive away, feeling happy that he had been able to help – and feeling sure that young woman had liked him, too...

He walked back over to the Gadget Mobile and got in.

"I feel like a new man!" He exclaimed, "I've truly put Delia behind me now – until today I'd forgotten how much the girls _love_ a guy with micro chips!"

"Forget the girls, Taylor!" The car complained, "You missed _two_ speeders!"

Taylor looked up and down the empty road.

"_What speeders?"_ He wondered, then he shrugged, and decided to while away the time playing _Go go Gadget_ with the radar gun that was on the passenger seat beside him.

* * *

It was early in the afternoon when Penny stopped writing and set the paper down, then moved closer to Gadget and gave him a hug as they sat in bed together.

"So that's all of it." She said thoughtfully, "This is what you want, what you feel is right...You're sure? You don't want to change _anything?_"

Gadget shook his head.

"This is exactly how I want to set this out." He told her, "If I do it this way I'm being fair, I'm being honest and I can sleep at night, I can get up in the morning and look in the mirror and know I've been honest."

Penny gave a heavy sigh.

"And you're going to read this out tomorrow at her parole hearing?"

Gadget nodded.

"I mentioned it to the Chief a few days ago and he wasn't happy about it but he said I could do it."

Penny smiled.

"I think he's getting soft in his old age!"

Gadget laughed.

"He's _not_ getting soft! He's the Chief, he'll never do that! He just said he wants this hearing out of the way so I can do what I need to do and then get on with my job."

Penny gave him a knowing look.

"In other words, he's getting softer towards you."

"_No he's not!" _

Gadget held her closer as he continued to speak, recalling all the times his boss had yelled at him.

"He's Chief Quimby; he _loves_ to yell at me. He loves to give me a hard time."

"He was very worried about you after the explosion." Penny told him, "He does care about you, Gadget, he might not say it to your face, but he _does_ care."

Gadget thought about what she had just said and got the feeling she was probably right – but he would never know for sure, because Quimby never went soft on anyone.

"He said I could speak at her hearing." He added, "But he _doesn't _know what I'm going to say."

And she caught a flicker of worry in his eyes.

"Are you sure you want to do this? You don't have to be there, you could just submit a statement."

"No." Gadget said, "I'm going to do this properly in person. I'm going to say what I _really_ think about the whole situation _and_ about Alicia's attitude and I'm not leaving anything out. And then I'm going to walk out of there and know I've done the right thing."

And Penny held him tighter, telling him not to worry because his conscience was clear.

But as Gadget lay there beside her he wondered if he really _was_ doing the right thing – he was certainly going to be speaking his mind, but he was pretty sure that when he walked out of there the Chief would find reason to yell at him over it – _and he knew for sure that for the whole time he was at that parole hearing, both before and after he had read that statement out, he would not look at Alicia MacKenzie once, because he knew how she would react to what he intended to say..._


	17. Chapter 17

Chapter 17

Gadget felt nervous as he took his seat along with others who had turned up for Alicia's parole hearing, he kept his statement in his hands and looked down at it, looking up once to see Alicia enter the room in a white summer dress and a frightened look in her eyes.

As she looked up he looked down at the floor, determined _not_ to meet her gaze.

As the hearing progressed he waited for his turn to speak and stayed focussed on nothing else: _these were the words that spoke the truth, the words he had put together with Penny's love and support. He felt sure he could not have done this without her._

He had switched off his Gadget Mode to ensure there would be no glitches due to his nervousness.

_But he still felt nervous_.

When his name was announced he stood up, focussing on the statement in his hands and not looking up once even though he was sure he felt Alicia's eyes on him the whole time:

"I am here today to share with this parole board my knowledge regarding Alicia." He said, _"It's been well documented that she was raised by an extremist who opposed the development of cyborg technology and as a result she was conditioned to hate and mistrust all forms of cybernetic technology and cyborg life. During the time I spent with Miss MacKenzie before her arrest I found her attitude to change profoundly. I also wish to remind the people here today that Alicia burned off the tattoo that signified her allegiance to the ACR by pouring acid over her own hand. I would also like to remind you all of the fact that she was repeatedly forced to allow herself to be used by her fathers associates against her will during the days her father exerted influence over her and this I believe, was a form of abuse that left her mentally unstable."_

"What?" Alicia said quietly from the other side of the room.

Gadget carried on reading, not wanting to look up and see the hurt in her eyes. _The last thing he wanted her to do was lose her temper and scream and shout because that would definitely cancel out her chances of winning her freedom back._..

Gadget paused for a moment, hoping she would stay calm as he read out the next part:

"_Due to the fact her daughter Grace is in the shared custody of myself and my former wife G2, I have on occasion visited Alicia in jail. I have always found her to be polite and respectful and I see no hint of the person who was conditioned with so much hatred by her father and his followers."_

Gadget took in a deep breath and knew if she started to scream and yell at him now, she would never get out of this place...

"In all the time I have seen Alicia MacKenzie I have seen a woman who is very much changed for the better. _However._.."

He paused again, reading the next part silently at first; this was the part Penny had asked him if he was sure about, but he wanted to be honest so he continued to speak:

"_When I recently informed Miss MacKenzie that I did not feel it was appropriate for her to see her daughter she became very angry and she subjected me to verbal abuse that very much echoed her late fathers views that cyborgs do not belong with the human race, that they should be disposed of in reprocessing plants."_

As he said those words Gadget didn't look up but he could hear Alicia sobbing quietly.

"_But I do not believe she meant what she said." _Gadget added_, "I believe that she was using the only weapon she could use at the time – verbal abuse. She has on many occasions attempted to contact me to apologize for her behaviour. And I can understand, as a parent, how difficult it must before her to be locked away with no contact with her only child. I can understand that this would be enough to kill a person who is not as strong as Alicia."_

As Alicia stopped crying, she looked across the room with confusion in her eyes.

Gadget did not look back at her, but kept on reading the statement:

"_Throughout her incarceration Alicia has lived for the day when she can experience freedom again and her ultimate goal is to be reunited with her daughter. I do not think at this moment in time it would be appropriate, given her anti cyborg outbursts, that she should be allowed to see her daughter. But I do think this woman has served her time and I do believe she has changed and I very much support the possibility of Alicia being released from prison. I do not believe Alicia MacKenzie poses any kind of threat to society, in fact I think it's quite the opposite – I think she is a vulnerable person who needs proper support. I would recommend that she is released initially on a curfew and has regular support via therapy sessions with a counselor who specializes in helping victims of trauma and abuse. I also recommend that she has strict supervision for at least the first six months and the rest of the precautions to run for a period of one year, ongoing if she still needs support. And I do not recommend she has any contact with her daughter Grace at this present time. That is all I have to say."_

As the woman at the head of the parole board thanked him for his time, Gadget nodded politely and got up.

He turned and headed for the door, feeling Alicia's eyes following him all the way out of the room.

_But Gadget did not look back once_.

* * *

After leaving the parole hearing, Gadget went back to Riverton Police Department, where the Chief was waiting to see him.

He knocked on his door and Quimby told him to come in.

Gadget walked into the room and sat down, feeling tense as he looked at his boss.

This was the first time he had been to his office since the day the Riverton Bomber had been shot - and back then Gadget had stayed quite about that decision, but Delia's death was still on his mind even though he didn't want to cause a potential quarrel by raising the subject.

"I'm not happy with your new partner's progress." Quimby told him, checking through paperwork and then looking up at Gadget, "Every time you've left him alone to check for speeders he's caught no one!"

"But Sir, he's new to the job! And there _is_ no crime in Riverton "

The Chief glared at him.

"He's a _moron,_ Gadget! The last three times he was on highway patrol he stopped no speeding cars. He told me he didn't even _see_ any speeders!"

Gadget smiled.

"Well there you go, Chief – no one breaks the law around here any more!"

The Chief thumped his desk.

"But yesterday we had a complaint from people who live close to the highway who saw a car that was going dangerously fast – it went past Taylor, he didn't even see it because apparently he was _asleep_ at the time!"

Gadget nodded.

"I'll speak to him, Chief. He's new to the job and he's bound to miss a few things."

The Chief's eyes widened.

"_Miss a few things?_ Gadget, it was only three days ago he booked_ eleven cars_ for driving too _slowly!_"

Gadget smiled.

"So he did something right!"

Quimby's face turned red.

"It was a _FUNERAL procession_, you idiot! He gave them all tickets, I had to get those tickets cancelled and call every one of those mourners and apologize!"

"I'll make sure he doesn't make that mistake again." Gadget promised him.

Then Quimby thought about something else that had been on his mind.

"Alicia Mackenzie's hearing was today?"

Gadget felt his throat go tight. He was in no mood for a quarrel and he had the feeling trouble was about to find him all over again.

_He didn't want to lie to the Chief. He had attended the hearing wanting to be honest; he saw no reason to change course now, but he knew how the Chief would react..._

"Yes and I read a statement. I have no idea what the outcome was because I left right after I finished giving my statement."

The Chief fell silent for a moment.

Gadget had a way of infuriating him sometimes, much in the way his Deputy did and he was sure in the future that the two of them would cause him to yell himself hoarse, but when all was said and done, he cared about Gadget even if he didn't agree with every decision he made or how he went about things sometimes.

_"I called the parole board."_ He said quietly.

Gadget looked down at his desk avoiding his gaze.

"You did?"

"And it's _not_ good news." The Chief remarked, "Apparently being Riverton's finest crime fighter gets you listened to – even _if_ your views do not exactly reflect what this department would have preferred you to say. _Alicia Mackenzie's being released_."

And as Gadget looked up at stared at him in surprise, the Chief kept that steely look in his eyes even though he wanted to shake his hand and congratulate him on his efforts because he had also felt her sentance had been too long – but he wasn't about the voice _that_ opinion aloud...

"_Released?"_ Gadget said in surprise.

The Chief nodded.

"That's right. Now put all the parole stuff out of your mind and go back to work. And keep Taylor on a short leash!"

Gadget smiled as he got up.

"I'll make sure he does his job properly." He promised him, "He won't mess up again."

Then Gadget left the office.

As the door closed Quimby noted that at least Gadget didn't bust the door frame every time he left like Taylor did, then he guessed that Gadget was probably quite a happy man to know that justice had been served at last and Alicia had finally been released.

The thought of Gadget being happy made the Chief briefly smile, then he picked up a stack of paperwork and started to get on with his day once more.

* * *

It was late in the evening when Taylor Braydon walked up to the door of Gadget's former home and knocked.

G2 answered the door in a light floral dress and smiled sweetly.

"Taylor!" She exclaimed, "It's about time! I've been calling you and calling you to invite you over for dinner."

For a moment he just stood on the doorstep feeling awkward.

"I...I know. I meant to come over before but I've been busy."

As he spoke he thought about how the past few weeks had been difficult; dealing with Delia's death had not been as hard as he had expected it to be, not when he remembered that she had never loved him, she had even tried to kill him... his confidence had been low after finding out she was the Riverton Bomber.

But that confidence had started to creep back on the day he had first been parked on the highway checking for speeders and he had helped a pretty girl get her car started. He didn't know her and he guessed he would never see her again- but she had smiled at him and their eyes had met and in that moment Taylor had felt like his old self again.

And that was all the confidence he had needed – _and _to mention to Gadget that G2 wanted him to come over for dinner...

Gadget had told him he had no problem at all with the thought of Taylor having a date with his former wife, and so now Taylor was on the doorstep, looking nervously at G2 as she smiled at him with those electric blue android eyes that made his knees go weak.

"Would you like to come in?" She asked him

Taylor smiled.

"Yes please!" He said warmly.

And G2 stepped back and he went into the house and she closed the door behind him.

"Where the kids?" He wondered.

"They are both asleep."G2 replied, leading him through to the front room.

She sat down on the sofa and invited him to sit beside her.

Taylor sat down and smiled again, and she smiled back at him.

"I'm glad you asked me to come over." He said, feeling caught in the blueness of her android eyes, "I've wanted to see you for a while but it's been difficult with finding out about Delia and everything that happened. But I'm getting over that now."

And he looked into her eyes and wanted to say more but she was looking back at him and all he could think was how hot she made him feel; it was the thought that those beautiful eyes were _totally_ android...he felt as if he could drown in them.

"I love your eyes." He said to her, "They're very..._robot!_"

G2 laughed.

"Some day I'll have to show you my old records that carry my specifics back in the days when I was one hundred percent android."

Taylor's eyes sparkled excitedly.

"I'd _love_ to see that!"

G2 smiled back at him and leaned closer, knowing Taylor well enough to have figured out they would never get anywhere unless she made the first move.

"_And I would very much like to see your microchips."_ She stated playfully.

Taylor stared at her.

"You mean you want to –"

G2 giggled, grabbed him by his shirt and pulled him closer, giving him a kiss that he wasn't expecting, but it was one that he certainly welcomed...

* * *

_"How did it go at the hearing?"_

As Penny spoke, Gadget remained silent as he took off his coat and hat and hung them up in the hallway.

Then he turned to Penny and slid his arms around her waist, looking into her eyes and feeling guilty but not quite sure why – he had no intention of resuming a relationship with Alicia, but he felt as if he shouldn't be so pleased that woman had regained her freedom...

"I didn't stay." He told her, "I read my statement and then I left. I had to go and see the Chief later and he told me Alicia got her parole."

"That's good news!" Penny exclaimed, "You've always said her sentance didn't reflect her crime! She's free now, that's _justice!_"

Gadget just nodded and pulled Penny into a tight embrace, holding her as he thought about how there was actually very little justice in this world today:

_If there was justice, Alicia never would have been sent to jail for such a long time. _

_She would have been recognized as a victim of her father's abuse and conditioning and she would have been out of jail a long time ago, maybe even building a relationship with Grace..._

_If there was justice left in the world, Quimby never would have given the order to have Delia Braydon shot._

_Gadget understood the Chief had no way of knowing if she was armed, if she hadn't had a second detonator in her possession – but she had been about to surrender, she had been about to step forward and give herself up when that shot had been fired..._

Then as Penny ran her fingers through his hair and their lips touched, he was reminded instantly that he was loved by this woman more than he had ever been loved in his entire life, that Penny would always be there for him, that she had the power to wipe away every hurt and every blow this word dealt him because she loved him.

And knowing that reminded him that there _was_ still justice in the world, because he was in the arms of the woman he would love for the rest of his life:

_Penny's love would always keep him strong no matter what else happened in the world because the love they shared was bigger than that, deeper than that and it would last forever..._

* * *

G2 knew for sure she had done the right thing kissing Taylor Braydon.

She knew it as she ran her fingers through his hair and pushed him harder against her as she lay back on the sofa and his kisses worked lower and became harder and more intimate and now she was shaking as she gave a gasp and pulled him closer.

_"Taylor!"_ She gasped as the world seemed to slide away and for a moment all she felt was pleasure shooting through her body.

Taylor kissed her there again, making her tremble, then he kissed her thighs, her belly, slowly moving upwards until their lips met once more.

"I love you." He told her as he looked into her eyes.

G2 replied with a kiss, and then he took her in his arms.

_"I love you too,"_ She whispered as he began to make love to her, and as she held on to him she knew those words made perfect sense, together they fitted so well, they belonged and she knew for certain this man who was no great genius but had a heart full of love was the one she wanted to be with, because she simply loved Taylor Braydon, she loved him and everything made sense, they were good together, he made her happy- and she intended to hold on to him and never let go again, because she had not expected to find love , not _real _love – twice in a lifetime...

* * *

**One Year Later**

The Gadget Mobile was parked up outside the house - Gadget's old house. He had moved back in because G2 had moved out with Grace and Alice and now she lived with Taylor Braydon who was still his deputy and very much a close and valued friend.

Penny had been living here with Gadget for almost a year and she was in the house right now, and Gadget was in the Gadget Mobile, feeling slightly uncomfortable because of the person who sat in the passenger seat beside him...

_But then he remembered, this was another decision he had made with Penny, and everything they did was together, so nothing would go wrong..._

Alicia MacKenzie looked at the house and then back at Gadget.

"I don't understand." She said quietly as she ran her fingers through her long dark hair, "Why have you brought me back here? Last time I was here I was in your custody. I'm free now, I've done everything I was asked to do when I got released, I've behaved myself, I've –"

"I know." Gadget said patiently, "And all those rules you had to stick to don't apply any more."

She looked into his eyes and frowned.

"What's going on? Why did you bring me here?"

"I'm sorry I had to stop you seeing Grace." He told her, "But you must realize it's for the best. You were in no fit state mentally to see her."

Tears blurred her eyes.

"You brought me here to tell me that? I _know _I can't see her, you made that clear!"

Gadget took a deep breath. Alicia was still an emotional person and he was trying to stay calm because he didn't want her getting worked up, not today...

Alicia blinked and tears ran down her face.

"_I never meant what I said to you, Gadget!"_ She said tearfully, _"I was just so hurt and angry when you said you'd never see me again. Please don't think I meant what I said! I rather go through one of those machines and tear myself apart than ever let that happen to you!"_

And Gadget looked into her eyes and saw nothing but the truth; Alicia meant every word she had just said.

His heart ached and it would have been only too easy to reach for her and hold her in his arms but instead he reached over and gave her hand a squeeze and then let go again.

"Don't get upset, there's nothing to say sorry for. I _know _you didn't mean what you said to me."

"_Hold me."_ She whispered as she wiped her eyes.

Gadget took a deep breath on hearing those words.

"No, I can't do that. I'm with Penny now. I'm happy with Penny. And she's in the house right now so don't go throwing yourself at me or doing anything to upset her because this was _her_ idea."

Alicia was totally confused now.

"What was?"

Gadget looked into Alicia's eyes and he lowered his voice.

"We did some talking and we came to a decision and Penny really made me understand how she would see things from your point of view. And yes I know you've changed - I don't think you've changed much but you've been through a lot and I know you didn't mean any of the things you said to me in jail. I know it because I know _you_. And I also know you can be very emotional so can you please take a deep breath and try and stay calm?"

Alicia nodded.

"What's going on?" She said again.

Gadget spoke again.

"_The deal is you only come over here when me and Penny are both present and you only do it by advance arrangement. If you stick to that maybe we can think in time about giving you a lot more trust."_

"Trust?" She wondered.

Gadget smiled.

"_I brought you here to see your daughter."_

Alicia took in a breath and blinked away more tears.

The front door opened and Penny walked out of the house, Grace was holding her hand at first but then Penny spoke to her quietly and let go of her hand and looked over at Gadget and smiled.

Gadget smiled back at her but suddenly Alicia was hugging him.

"_Oh Gadget thank you!"_ She said tearfully, then she let go of him and got out of the car and ran over to the little girl with dark hair, the child who she hadn't held since the day she was born.

Gadget blinked away tears of his own as he watched Alicia and Grace meet on the lawn and then Alicia gave her a hug.

Penny stood next to the car and glanced at Gadget, noticing he looked tearful.

"You've done the right thing." She promised him.

As Gadget watched Alicia and Grace sit down together on the lawn and start to talk to each other, he felt sure that Penny was right. She had told him, when all was said and done _nothing _changed the fact that Alicia was Grace's mother. Grace knew about her and had never met her and there was no reason why they couldn't have some degree of contact...

Penny leaned into the car and gave Gadget a kiss.

"You _have_ done the right thing." She said again, and Gadget smiled as he looked into her eyes.

"I couldn't have made this decision without you." He told her.

And Penny got into the car and sat beside him and they stayed there as the sun sank lower, watching as Grace got to know her mother for the first time.

* * *

A week later Penny was wearing a black cocktail dress and sparkling shoes that very much reminded her of the night of the explosion- a _lot_ of memories had been stirred up by the decision to attend the party at the Mayor's house to celebrate the rebuilding of the ballroom.

But as they had got ready to go out Gadget had straightened his tie and turned from the mirror and smiled at her and she had seen his flawless face and it seemed as if the damage he had suffered on the night of the bombing had never happened.

"By the way Penny, you look beautiful tonight." Gadget had told her, kissing her cheek as they had entered the Mayor's mansion along with the other guests.

"And you look very handsome." Penny had replied, then she had reached up and touched his cheek, remembering how he had been forced to wear the metal mask that had covered his face for so long - and as Gadget caught the look in her eyes what she had just said to him meant so much more than just a compliment.

Gadget and Penny sat down at a table near the stage which had been set up for the Mayor to give a speech before dinner.

G2 had been seated on the same table along with Taylor, and Penny had heard him thank her for reminding him not to wear a tie tonight..._because there was soup before dinner_. And Penny had smiled on hearing that remark as she recalled the first time she had ever met Taylor and his tie had gone right into the soup...

When the time came for the Mayor to give her speech about how happy she was that the house had been rebuilt, she smiled and posed for pictures in a shimmering lilac dress that had a hemline and - a bust line - that seemed to defy gravity and as her speech went on and on, G2 leaned closer to Taylor and gave him a nudge, just as he was about to fall forward and smack his head on the table.

Taylor opened sleepy eyes and smiled at her.

"Come here, honey..." He murmured, then she giggled.

"We're at the_ party!_" She reminded him and Taylor blinked and sat up straight in his chair.

"Oh yeah, so we are! Sorry about that, but the Mayor was talking too long and she's boring and I-"

_"Fell asleep!"_ G2 said as she laughed again.

Then she glanced over at Penny and Gadget and looked back to Taylor.

"Did he tell you about tonight?"

Taylor smiled.

"He sure did."

"So remember what's going to happen and don't fall asleep again, you don't want to miss it!" She reminded him.

"Okay." Taylor said, then he yawned and straightened up in his chair a little more, listening to the end of the Mayor's speech.

"And now I think it's only fair that I hand the evening over to a man who has done so much to keep Riverton safe." Mayor Wilson said, "A man who is a true hero in every sense of the word. He really doesn't need any more introduction – "

And as she said _Inspector Gadget_, the room broke into applause and Penny smiled as she watched him walk up and take his place at the microphone while the Mayor returned to her seat.

As Gadget looked at the audience, he thought about everything he was about to say and for a moment the night of the bombing rushed back at him, along with everything else he had on his mind, but then he looked at the guests who were seated before him and began to speak:

"Just over a year ago," He began, "We had the unthinkable happen right here in this room. And I know the Mayor had spoken about remembering those who lost their lives as well as talking about the importance of rebuilding this place, just like we had to rebuild our lives and our sense of safety – but for me Riverton will always be a safe place to live. I will continue to do everything in my power to ensure the town stays safe and so will Deputy Braydon-"

Taylor smiled proudly as he heard Gadget mention his name.

Gadget looked over at the table where Chief Quimby sat with his wife.

"And so will Chief Quimby and the rest of Riverton Police Department."

And to Gadget's surprise, the Chief smiled at him warmly.

Gadget looked back at the crowd.

"It's important that we are here tonight." He added, "Because like the Mayor said, we have rebuilt everything and although some things can never be the same again what matters is that we are still here and although some things have changed, we as a community are still strong."

As the crowd broke out into applause again, Gadget spoke up once more, and the applause faded out as the guests listened once more.

"That was all I wanted to say – _apart from something personal that I'd like to add while I'm up here_."

And he looked at the table where Penny sat with G2 and Taylor.

Gadget took in a breath, trying to keep his emotions in check as he spoke again.

"When the bomb went off I sustained blast injuries that I only survived because I am a cyborg." He stated, "But even so I was still badly injured, so badly that at one time my family were told I probably wouldn't live. But I got through it because of the love and support of my ex wife G2 and my daughters Grace, Emily and Alice-"

He looked across the room and smiled at Lula, who was seated beside her husband.

"Emily's mother is there at the back of the room, she won't stand up because she's shy, she's wearing a white cocktail dress and her name is Doctor Lula Smith. She's the finest cybernetics expert I've ever known." He said, "And it's also thanks to her expertise that I'm still here today."

Then he looked back at the audience.

"But there's one person who I need to thank more than anyone else and she's someone who stayed with me night and day and she even gave up her job to look after me and as I'm sure most of you know by now, from those difficult times came changes to our friendship that led us to fall in love and I just want to say thank you to her for being there for me."

He looked at Penny.

"Would you come up here for a minute?"

Penny looked back at him in surprise.

"Come on." Gadget said as he beckoned to her.

Penny got up from her seat and walked around the table and joined him on the stage.

As she looked into his eyes Gadget found it quite ironic that they were all together here today because of a small black box he had found on the wall behind a curtain a year ago- and now there was _another _black box on his mind - _but this one was covered with velvet and right now it was in his pocket..._

He turned to Penny as he took hold of her hand.

She looked into his eyes and wondered what was going on.

"What's this about?" She asked him.

Gadget smiled.

_"I want to give you a happy ending, just like in those fairytales you used to read."_ He said to her, taking the box from his pocket.

As he let go of her hand he held out the box and opened it, a large diamond shimmered and caught the light like white glittering fire.

Gadget was still looking into her eyes.

"_Marry me Penny."_ He said softly.

Penny caught her breath as she looked back at him, then she saw the diamond ring sparkling in the open box.

Her eyes filed with tears of joy and she could barely find her voice.

"_Of course I will!"_ She whispered_._

Gadget put the ring on her finger and pulled her into his arms.

As they embraced and they kissed and then kissed again, the room broke out into applause.

And as they applauded, Taylor turned to G2.

"_Shall we do that?"_ He offered with a smile.

G2 turned to him and looked into his eyes.

"Of course!" She said brightly, grabbing hold of him and giving him a big kiss.

_Then she let him go again._

Taylor turned back to her.

"So we're getting married?"

G2 frowned.

"No." She said, "You asked me for a _kiss_, so I kissed you."

"So you don't want to get married?" He wondered.

G2 blinked as she thought about it.

"No." She said happily, "I _was _married and it didn't work out. Therefore I prefer to keep us the way we are."

Taylor smiled.

"Okay." He replied, then he noticed Gadget still had his arms around Penny, they were still kissing like neither of them ever wanted to let go and Taylor put his fingers to his lips and whistled as the crowd kept on applauding.

* * *

A few weeks later, the Gadget Mobile was parked off the highway while Taylor kept a close watch on the road.

"I _might_ turn my internal radio on." He said, "This is boring. I never catch speeders anyway..."

"That's because you don't watch the road long enough!" The car told him, "If Gadget was here he wouldn't be listening to the radio – he'd be waiting to catch speeders!"

Taylor leaned back in the driver's seat and smiled.

"Well Gadget's not here! He's away for two weeks on his honeymoon and while he's away I'm the sheriff in this town! And he told me I could drive about all day with you, Gadget Mobile! He promised me I can drive you for two whole weeks – that was the deal. I get to drive the Gadget Mobile and he gets my beach house for his honeymoon."

_"Taylor, watch out there's a –"_

Taylor blinked, feeling a breeze ruffle his hair as he thought he may have heard the brief roar of an engine.

"What?" He said vacantly.

"You just missed a car exceeding the speed limit by about ninety miles!" The car told him.

"I did?" Taylor wondered, "Well maybe they should _slow down_, then I _might_ be able to catch them!"

He gave a sigh and settled back into the softness of the seat.

Then he started to smile.

"I'm going to play a game..."

"Oh no not again!" The car complained.

Taylor's eyes lit up as his hand hovered over the radar gun beside him.

"_Go go Gadget radar gun!"_ He said, snatching it up at speed.

"I told you Taylor," Said Gadget Mobile, "_You can't go go anything! Grow up!"_

"No, this is fun..."

Taylor laughed as he placed the radar gun on the seat and his hand hovered over it once more.

"_I'm going to play this game again!"_ He announced excitedly.

* * *

Far away from Riverton, while the sea rolled to shore and a warm breeze filtered through the bedroom window, Gadget turned on his back and gripped Penny tighter as she kissed him again, as she kissed him her hand gently caressed him some more, her fingers sliding down the metal pipe that had just began to send the right signals through his body and as he reached for her he took her in his arms, knowing he was where he wanted to be.

As he moved against her she caught her breath and so did he, feeling pleasure wash over him in a rush as he held her close, his heart pounding as he lost himself in a moment so beautiful he felt as if his life was now complete.

Then Gadget gave a deep contented sigh and closed his eyes, smiling as Penny gave him gentle kisses that traced a path over his throat, then his shoulder - then over the exposed metal where his extended arms were wrapped around her body...

_"That feels so good."_ He murmured.

Then he opened his eyes.

"If Lula found out we'd just made love with my Gadget mode switched on she'd _really_ give me a lecture!"

Penny laughed softly as Gadget retracted his arms back into place once more.

"But we won't tell her that!"

"No we won't!" Gadget replied, sounding very sure about it, "We know what to do now – keep my gadget mode on and-"

Penny kissed him.

"_And everything works just like it should!"_

Gadget smiled as he looked into her eyes.

"You'll never know how much you mean to me." He told her, "You've changed my life, Penny."

"You've changed mine too. I love you Gadget."

She put her head on his shoulder and Gadget held her closer.

_"I love you Penny."_ He whispered, then he closed his eyes and listened to the sound of her breathing, to the sound of the sea rolling to shore and as he fell into an easy sleep, Gadget smiled, feeling as if everything had fallen into place in a way that made sense. For the first time in his life there were no missing pieces, he knew he felt something he once thought he could never feel again:

_It had been a long time coming, his life had been a long hard struggle, but now at last he knew he had what he had long been searching for - finally, in her arms, he knew he felt complete._

The End.

**Author Note:**

******THE THIRD STORY IN THIS SERIES CONTINUES IN BOOK 3 : THE RISE OF LAZARUS .******


End file.
